Connected
by Blue Lone Wolf 2574
Summary: Detective Teddy Altman's about to get the wake up call of a lifetime. Can his most recent case give him the insight he needs to find a murderer, discover his own true nature, and possibly be more honest with others about himself? BillyxTeddy Rated T.
1. Chapter 1: Fateful Night

Hey all! Blue here for another round and hopefully with something you can all enjoy. It's a new idea that's recently come to mind so I hope it's greeted well with you all. So without wasting too much of your time, I'll get right to it. I don't own 'Young Avengers' in any shape or form unless owning the books counts. Well, not yet but still. Enjoy!

"Iii" = speech

_Iii_ = thought

Chapter 1: Fateful Night

It just wasn't his night. Sitting in his car, watching a building should've been the easiest thing that Detective Theodore Altman should've been able to do. But no! With no time to call for back up or even grab his radio or his phone, he was now running through the stinky labyrinth of alleyways that hid between buildings. And all because he was supposed to catch a possible murder suspect! His captain was going to have his head if he didn't get the guy he was chasing, or he was likely to be directing traffic by the next day. Like he did with every chase, he was forced to leave his car where it was, locked with the windows up while he jammed the keys into his pockets. He'd been a football player in high school, even went as far as helping the basketball team with a few games when there were short an extra player.

Though once he'd gone to the academy, he was forced to put all his athletic ability to work. His mother protested to him taking on the badge of the law, but still supported his decision to uphold the laws of the land. Her smiling face, bright and proud amongst the rest of the crowd, was enough to reassure his confidence in his new path. But right now, he had to ignore the stench of three day old garbage and focus on making another arrest. Somewhere ahead in the dark, his suspect somehow made a quick turn, his footsteps echoing against the brick walls. Quickly skidding to a halt at the grungy intersection, Teddy had to look around, and listen. One of the few secrets he'd been able to keep since joining the police force a good six years prior, was that he was capable of things no other could even dream of. One of them happened to be night vision, coupled with super senses, like smell and hearing.

His sense of smell was being disrupted by the filth he was surrounded with so that was out of the question. Just a whiff of it was almost enough to send him reeling. Ignoring his nose, Teddy instead turned to his eyes, the dark and dim light of lights too far away to really reveal much turned into an almost crimson red. The cold dark remained fairly dark, a shade of scarlet that he easily ignored. Bags, barrels and dumpsters of garbage hinted with variously shades of pink, white and some yellow stuck out of the crimson coloring but it was what was on the ground that interested him most. White hot shoe prints, leading off into the dark, stuck out like cliché sore thumbs. The clue a bit too easy to resist, Teddy swiftly followed, eying the prints as he ran in case he lost track somehow. He really needed to catch the guy and soon or he'd have no case and that meant it'd be ignored for a decade or so, left to collect dust in the back of the storage room back at the precinct. Like hell he was going to let that happen.

The prints made a sharp turn to the right, which he dutifully did in turn. Only when he looked up, the first thing other than an alleyway he saw was something dark. Whatever it was, it got big and quick, gaining speed as it came. Somehow, by some miracle, Teddy ducked as the man swinging it grunted from the effort. Seeing his opponent wasn't down, the man didn't hesitate to swing again, this time bringing it the other way. Again, Teddy ducked as the man let out another grunt. Annoyed that this man was still standing, the stranger abandoned his blunt object and reached into his jacket. Teddy didn't even think twice, giving the man a firm right hook right into the left side of his face. The figure, let out one last grunt as he spun, falling on his left side into a pile of black plastic trash bags. Without so much as another thought, Teddy was pulling the fallen man's hands to be behind his back as he pulled his cuffs out of the holder clipped to the back of his pants. Reassured his catch wouldn't be going anywhere, Teddy flipped the man over to get a look at his face.

Using his almost photographic memory, the large blonde was sure he had the guy he needed based that he'd been looking for him for almost two days. And was thus forced to sit outside the guy's apartment, in his three year old car all by himself, for almost a day and a half while waiting for the guy to come home. Mostly because his 'partner' was too lazy to get up off his ass to do actual work. He couldn't really blame Greg. But he was starting to find reasons to resent the guy. It wasn't that he hadn't noticed before. Hell, he knew that Greg was trouble ever since they first met in high school. But his need for acceptance had been too strong for him to walk away from Greg's split tongue and slippery ways. Just the thought of it made him shiver all the way down to his bones. Why Greg had followed him throughout college and the academy was anyone's guess. Not wanting to think of his lousy partner anymore, Teddy resolved himself to lugging his new captive back down the mile or so of alleyways back to his car where he'd get the backup he'd deserved in the first place. How he didn't know the surprise he'd get once he got there.

--_**Inside the Apartment**_—

Two figures moved silently like ghosts through the softly lit rooms, bee lining their way through the place as one went from one room to another. Almost as if in search of something that he'd know if he saw it. His movements were slow, steady and calm as he walked, hands stretched forward. Like he was feeling the air with unseen fingers longer than his physical ones, feeling for something that only he knew might be there as his hands seemed to glow bright neon blue. Both were dressed in shirts, jeans and sneakers, their hoodies their only shield against the early autumn chill.

The latter of the two, keeping behind his companion almost respectively, suddenly snorted in his impatience. "Hurry up! That cop's car is still here and who knows if he caught the bozo who lives here yet! Can't this go any faster?"

Continuing his slow and studious path through the home, the man's companion didn't turn to face him as he spoke, his dark colored clothes nearly making him blend into the shadows of the apartment. "No, it can't. And unlike you, I don't have to be on the move every five seconds because I'm hyped on caffeine."

White blonde hair, short and somewhat spiky, almost shimmered in the light as the man scoffed as blue eyes glared at his companion's turned back. "What? It's better than drugs. Would you rather I be high on those?"

"Hell no. Then I'd have to beat you senseless." The first said in turn, making his turn in scoffing at the thought.

The latter simply waved his hands as if he were part of a jazzy musical, his expression feigning fear at the threat. "Oooh. I'm sooo scared. But I'm serious, that cop could be on his way right now."

"I'm almost done." He turned to finally glare back at his companion, his brown eyes narrowing to show he meant what he said. "I might go faster if you shut up."

This time the latter simply rolled his eyes, knowing that the threat was empty no matter what he did. But he knew better than to test his chances. "Fine. I'll be outside. Be ready to go when he gets here."

"Yeah, yeah. I got it." He grumbled, turning his attention back to what he was doing. As his 'escort' left the apartment to stand on the open walkway, he combed his fingers through his dark brown hair, took a deep breath and began again. Mere seconds later, the blue glow of his hands was back again, this time more evenly concentrated.

Clearing his mind, the man wasted no time in scanning the place, room by room, for the very thing they'd both hoped would be there. Much to his disappointment, so far his search was coming up with nothing. He was nearly to the very back of the apartment when a noise from the front door brought him out of his meditative state of mind.

"Shit!" he heard his companion swear loudly, the word followed by a loud thud and a grunt of pure effort. "Ack!"

Almost immediately he was sprinting back to the front, quickly yelling. "Hey what's--?"

"GO! NOW!" he heard his comrade yell, making him stop somewhere between the hall and the doorjamb leading to the main room.

"But--!" he began, despite his lack of visual contact. The need to be reassured that things weren't going to end badly, that everyone was going to be walking away in one piece.

No such confirmation came, only and an order, strong and firm despite whatever his tormentor was attempting to do. "_GO!_"

He didn't need to be told twice. And he could hate himself later if he didn't see his comrade later that night. Right now, all he needed to do was turn around and run. Biting down on his bottom lip, the dark haired man quickly turning on his heel without another word, and ran back the way he came.

--_**With Teddy**_—

Dealing with the dead weight of his handcuffed suspect was a little harder to deal with than he'd originally thought. Even though he looked pretty skinny, the guy turned out to be heavier unconscious than he would've been had he been awake. Not even bothering to see if the apartment door was open or not, Teddy instead busied himself with stuffing his fallen prey into the backseat of his car before loud shouting met his tired ears. Confused by this, he turned his blue eyes only to be shocked by the familiar form of Greg Norris struggling with someone in his strong grip. Instinct and training kicked in as he reached for his .9 mm, quickly making his way across the parking lot and up the stairs to where his partner fought hard with someone nearly two sizes smaller than him.

In shock to his sudden appearance, Teddy couldn't help but gape like an idiot as he let the question fly. "Greg what're you--?"

Greg, not in the mood, simply cut him off with an angry retort. "Forget me! There's another one in there!"

"But where the hell--?" he began again, but only got cut off again.

"Will you go already?!? Dammit hold still you little--." He snapped, somehow dodging a well placed punch intended for his nose as the figure in his grip continued to wriggle and struggle against his captor.

Knowing Greg well enough to know he wouldn't take no for an answer, Teddy quickly passed the two as he swept through the apartment. When normal vision found nothing, the blonde found himself once again turning to infrared, looking right at the floor for help. Already the footprints of his suspect were fading with two more fresh sets were still pretty hot upon closer inspection. One led back outside, the other further in. Greg was occupied with one set, now how had to find the other one. Gun cocked in hand, Teddy made his way to the back of the apartment, following the white hot footprints to the very last room. The master bedroom, the very last door in the hall and the only place anyone could actually go. With the assistance of his super hearing, he could tell that another heart was beating beyond the door. Switching his gun to his left hand and gripping the door handle with his right. Taking yet another calming breathe, Teddy mentally prepared himself for the worst.

"Police! I'm armed and I don't want to hurt you. Just lie face down on the ground, spread eagle and end this peacefully." He waited for only a moment, the sweat on his brow only making him more nervous. When he heard nothing from the other side of the door, he didn't waste any more time. "Okay, I'm coming in!"

Teddy slowly opened the door, keeping his gun close in case the person beyond tried to send it flying from his hand. So far, so good. Or at least until he noticed that the far window was being swiftly pulled open, and the person doing so was wasting no time in getting out.

Horrified by this sight, Teddy holstered his gun and ran for the window, practically yelling at the top of his lungs. "NO DON'T! THIS IS THE THIRD FLOOR!"

But his prey wasn't listening, or at least didn't hear him until it was too late, the man's skinny frame vanishing over the side. Teddy quickly leaned over the windowsill in search for the man's crumpled body on the ground below only to find… nothing. Confused and wondering if the lack of sleep was getting to him, he was distracted by a loud grunt near the front door, making him turn his attention back to his partner's situation. Eying the ground below and the air in-between, Teddy quickly sprinted back to the front of the apartment.

What he found was certainly interesting: his partner, kneeling on the ground, cursing and holding himself with his face hidden from view. Having a good idea of what happened, but knowing better than to laugh about it, Teddy kept his well-built mask on and in place by asking anyway. "Greg? What happened? Are you okay?"

Greg shook his head, hissing in obvious pain, not daring to move from where he knelt on the rain stained concrete. "Nah, I'm fine. The son of a bitch got me in the balls though. He's fast too. Ran off before I could get a better hold on him too. What about yours?"

"He jumped." He said simply, the shock of it once again kicking in.

"He what?" Greg demanded, finally looking up to glare at him with his storm grey eyes.

For once, Teddy scowled down at his partner, his gaze disapproving. "I'm tellin' ya! He jumped! Right out the window! You heard me yell didn't you?"

Greg rolled his eyes in obvious annoyance at the blonde's response. "Yeah, clearly. Probably the reason why he got such a good swing at me."

"Sorry. Can you stand?" he inquired, intending to hold out his hand to help the other man to his feet.

Once again, Greg rolled his eyes, muttering angrily under his breath. "In a minute. Where were you?"

Teddy fought the urge to roll his eyes and scoff at the man. Did he seriously have such a bad memory when it came to what they were doing? "Chasing the guy who actually owns this place down the alley, believe it or not. Where the hell were you?"

"I was getting us food. We need to stop at the Chinese place down by the corner before we get back to the precinct." Greg said informatively, attempting to stand only to groan and kneel down again.

"Just as long as nobody asks us if we brought enough for everybody." Teddy said with a chuckle, the thought of it bringing a slight look of amusement to his face.

For once, Greg let out a strained smirk as he finally got to his feet, wincing as another wave of pain went through him. Waving away Teddy's extended hand as he used the metal railing for balance, the brunette used it to slowly turn him around to face where the stairs were located. "True enough. I'll be in the car."

Teddy scowled his confusion at this statement. "But we need to call this in."

"When we get to the car." Greg reaffirmed, now having gotten several steps before pain had forced him to stop.

Scowling deeper, Teddy quickly maneuvered to walk in front of the man, swiftly cutting him off. "Greg--."

"I'm in pain and I don't want to sit down here. Unless you're planning on staying here all night, I'll be in the car." He growled, glaring at his blonde compatriot as he gripped the metal railing of the walkway with white knuckles.

Like he usually did, Teddy caved. "Fine. I'm going back to take a better look around."

"Right. What happened to that guy? The one who jumped?" Greg inquired, sounding only half interested in the response.

"I--." The blonde cop desperately racked his mind for a reasonable explanation for what happened to the man, but his mind failed. Leaving him nervous and on the spot for something he had no control over. "I don't know."

This really got Greg's attention as he scowled his disbelief at the blonde. "You don't know? How could you not know?"

"I saw him go through, but when I caught up to look, he wasn't on the ground. I couldn't see him anywhere! It was like he disappeared!" Teddy said quickly, hoping his partner wouldn't think he was stupid. Or crazy.

"Not even the press is gonna believe that bullshit." The brunette growled, using a free hand to massage the bridge of his nose. Storm grey eyes met Teddy's nearly sky blue. "You're sure he fell down?"

"Positive. He went all the way over." He said, nodding vigorously. "No fire escape or nothin'."

Greg let out a tired sigh, leaning heavily on the railing as his brain tried to wrap itself around the events of the night. "This complicates things. You take another look around the apartment, I'll get to the radio."

Teddy nodded before remembering something. "Check the back."

This sudden statement left Greg confused. "The back? Why?"

Now it was Teddy's turn to roll his eyes. "That's where I stuffed our suspect, that's why. Need to make sure he's where I left him."

Greg nodded, accepting this as perfectly good logic. "Right. See you in a few."

Nodding to his partner and watching his retreating back, Teddy couldn't help but get the feeling that Greg wasn't being very truthful. Then again, the guy had never been one to be all that honest to begin with. But now, the feeling that something was off wouldn't stop buggin him. Greg had never been gone longer than fifteen minutes before. Even for him this was a little unusual. Deciding, for now, to think nothing of it, Teddy once again pulled out his gun and entered the apartment. Wary of a possible third intruder, which he doubted, the blonde cop went from room to room, using his heightened senses to prove his suspicions wrong. Upon finding nothing to indicate anyone other than him was there, Teddy focused on the scents of the two escaped intruders. He hadn't gotten a good look at either one, but from what he could tell, they were both the same build and possibly the same height. This made it good to assume they were the same age too. And after taking a good sniff of the room, they both smelled almost exactly the same, which was really weird.

The one that Greg had wrestled with smelled pretty okay. A little sweaty maybe but was significantly unique enough for him to track. But the second one, the jumper, seemed to have something Teddy had never really encountered before. His scent was like his friend's, except it was really different. Almost like it was charged with something, sending a shiver up and down his spine as he caught another whiff of it. Whatever it was, it was strong and almost addictive before he forced himself to move on, staring at the ground as he went. One set looked like it'd been on the move the entire time, like he couldn't stay still. But the other set, the one that'd jumped, seemed to have moved more slowly, more calmly, and almost as if to suggest that he was deliberately doing so for a reason that defied explanation. Coming to the hallway, Teddy was surprised to see that the slow pace suddenly changed to a panicked run heading back towards the main room. But for some reason they stopped and doubled back towards the room where he'd jumped out the window.

Odd thing was, the man's scent wasn't in the room where he'd jumped out the window as Teddy had witnessed. Confused, the blonde tried a door to his left, only to find the bathroom that had no window to speak of. Going to the right, Teddy was hit by a wave of the man's faint scent before it vanished, leaving him dazed. Blinking a few times against the intruder's odor, Teddy was shocked to find yet another open window, curtains fluffed out by the wind. Almost at once, his brain just stopped ticking.

_No… no fuckin' way._ He thought, quickly rushing towards the window as he'd done with the other one in the opposing room mere minutes before. Leaning out the window, Teddy could swear he was either seeing things or just going through déjà vu. Instead of open air as the other window had suggested, this window really did lead to the fire escape. Using his other set of eyes, Teddy could see the quickly fading globs of heat from feet and hands, making their way down the metal stairs system. Turning his gaze towards the ground, he could easily see the prints leading away and out of sight, their pace suggesting he really moved it. For a full two minutes, Teddy stood there, half in and half out, in complete shock of what he'd just discovered. Not only were the pair smart, but they'd duped him out of making two more arrests.

_But how did--?_ He began to think before it clicked. Teddy knew that he was unlikely to be the ol' one-of-a-kind. There had to be others like him, or at least other people with different abilities. He'd suspected his mother was like him, but he'd been too polite in terms to her privacy to ask, much less even mention what he could do. But now he had proof. Proof that he wasn't alone in the world and that person had just left him high and dry. Realizing he'd been standing there too long, Teddy quickly made his way back out front, locking the apartment door before jogging to his car where Greg and their suspect sat waiting. Tomorrow, tomorrow for sure and no other day would do. He'd track down the pair by himself if he had to.

--_**The Next Day**_—

Sitting at his desk that was situated across from Greg's, Teddy somehow fought down a yawn that demanded to be freed from its prison in his chest. His super sensitive nose somehow caught a whiff of last night's chow mein, making him wince as he glared at the white take out box, open and nearly empty as a pair of wooden chopsticks stuck out of the top. How Greg could stand the chai tow kway he'd never know. Looking down at the top of his desk, sitting on top of the many files and papers that made up his desk space, sat one of the many Chinese fortunes that they'd been given the night before, its message staring up at him almost mischievously.

_When in doubt… let your instincts guide you? What the hell does that mean?_ He thought in pure groggy annoyance. To be honest, he wasn't in the mood for anything mystical, or even remotely cryptic. He just wanted straight answers. Like why the guy they'd brought in had acted like such a nut when they got him under the light. Babbling something about something chasing him around and how he'd tried to get help. When they asked him about it, this only led to more senseless babbling and even more frustration. And now, once again, Greg had disappeared, leaving Teddy to hold down the fort as the next shift came in with fresh faces and fresh coffees in their hands. Since Greg never really cared for them, he'd been allowed the bitter pleasure of opening all the cookies they'd been given, each message proving more confusing and cryptic than the last. One by one, it only led him to ponder what they meant.

_Accept what comes to you each day. Well gee don't I feel better now._ Not thinking much of it with the roll of his eyes, he moved on to open the next one.

_A pleasant surprise is in store for you tonight. Really? Well damn. Where was this one a few weeks ago?_ He pondered, letting it land next to its brethren as he went to fight cheap, clear plastic to open yet another.

_The human spirit is stronger than anything that can happen to it._ This made his eyebrows rise, as the prospect of such a thing actually made him think. Even he knew that human spirits could be strong as hell. But for a fortune cookie to up and state it like that? It was pretty unusual in his mind for something like this to come his way. Shaking it off, he instead moved on to the next one.

_You have a curious smile and a mysterious nature._ Now this one really did catch Teddy by surprise. He'd already been told by various women, and men, at the office that he had some sort of allure about him that made him attractive. Captivating. Even going as far as saying he was hard to ignore. And he was sure it had something to do with his shape-shifting abilities. Yes, he could shape-shift. But only when the situation demanded it, which was rare, even for his kind of work. Besides that, he was given heightened senses so his ability to call on them so readily could explain a lot. Looking over at the pile, he was surprised to find only three more cookies remained from the stash they'd received. Had Greg really taken some? Shrugging it off, Teddy decided that somehow, these oddly sweet treats were telling him something. Hesitantly, he reached for the next one in the pile.

_Use your head, but live in your heart._ This rocked him to the core. It was almost exactly what his mother used to tell him before he left for the academy. Hell, she even said it before he left for college, to live on his own for the first time. The thought of her happy, prideful tears nearly made him blush right where he sat. Was it possible that this was an echo of what his mother used to say, only now coupled with another meaning he'd yet to catch. Only two more remained as his large fingers wrapped themselves around their next victim.

_Trust your intuition. The universe is guiding your life._ As he read it twice, then a few times more, the statement continued to make sense but sound cryptic at the same time. When push came to shove, Teddy really did come to trust his gut on a lot of things. Like how it told him to dump Greg for someone more… reliable all the time. Except Teddy was a nice guy, and he'd known the man for years. He didn't want to just up and rid himself of the guy before he had a pretty valid reason to demand a new partner, much less a transfer. Letting the fortune fall to his desktop, its wise words facing upwards, staring up at him patiently with its comrades as Teddy's blue eyes fell on the last and final fortune cookie seated to his left.

Staring down at the thin, crispy little tart, wrapped in cheap clear plastic with some red Chinese writing or symbol barely visible slapped on here and there, Teddy could see how it looked like any other cookie handed out by the hundreds of Chinese places that were scattered all over the city. Hell, he half expected it to be something absolutely random and straightforward, or even something so damn confusing that the most he'd do with it is toss it into the bin next to his desk. Long before he'd joined the force, he'd received some pretty weird fortunes, and had quite promptly ignored them as they'd either not made much sense or had little or nothing to do with his life at the time. But now, he couldn't but feel that they were now coming back to bite him in the ass. And this time he was listening. Kicking himself for getting so worked up over something that was likely something kooky or just random, Teddy finally gave in to the urge to open the final cookie seated patiently on his desk.

Briefly fighting plastic, Teddy quickly tossed the wrapper into the garbage as he'd done with the others. And like the others, he'd busted them open and absentmindedly stuffed their broken remains into his mouth. Their sweet taste was a brief and welcome distraction from what he was supposed to be doing, which was look at case files. But right now, his focus was on the small piece of paper in his hands, its content facing the opposite direction. Hesitant and hating himself for it, Teddy slowly but surely turned the little thing over.

If this were any other day, he'd had fallen out of his chair in shock at what it said. But this wasn't any other day, nor was it any other week. He was sure that if anyone was even remotely looking at him right at this moment, they'd see his shocked expression. To be honest, he was a bit floored by it. The little paper's statement honestly shouldn't have affected him this easily, but it did. And it was sticking his brain into gridlock. Of all the things he'd expected the damn thing to say, it certainly wasn't this.

_A new friend will help you break out of an old routine._

Did it mean what he thought it meant? Did this seriously say that he was finally going to be free of Greg for some reason or other? Hell did this tiny sheet of paper actually mean 'friend', or something more significant? No, he couldn't seriously be thinking this way. Only a few in the office were aware of his actual sexuality, one of them _not_ being Greg. Who knew how he'd react to having a gay friend and not even knowing it. Shrugging off such thoughts for later, Teddy went back to staring at the little fortune in awe and puzzlement. Was this tiny piece of paper, the smallest piece of processed wood he'd ever dealt with in his life, seriously suggesting that his life was going to turn upside down?

Thinking about it now, it all seemed to fit. Two men, somehow escaping custody without even leaving a name or a face to go by, his stubborn determination to find answers, and now some fortune telling him he was about to get a wakeup call. Sleep could wait. Paperwork could definitely wait. Rising to his feet and stuffing the fortunes into his desk, he paused when he was about to toss the one in his hand in with the others. It took him two seconds to decide before it found its home inside his pocket before he snatched his coat off the back of his chair. Quickly cleaning up his mess and rearranging a few things, Teddy was out the door and in his car before anyone could even say hi or ask him how he was. Even as he started his car and looked back as he pulled out, the fortunes unusual words rang in his ears like the bells of a church.

_A new friend will help you break out of an old routine._

And we're done! Man this was a hard one! But an accomplishment nonetheless, if I may say so. I think you guys will really enjoy what's up ahead. Even if I don't even know what this baby's gonna slap me in the face with. But I'll try to get it to you guys as fast as these hands have done in the past. Granted my brain wants to tag team while I'm at it. Anywho, best get on with things right? Right? Before I start ranting any more than I already have, not that I meant to but still. He's what's to come:

Next chapter:

Chapter 2: Destiny Knocks

And it does! Teddy's finally gone solo in search of his mystery intruders with some wise but puzzling words warming up his pocket. But as he does the thing he does best, little does he know he's about to discover that he's in for even more than he thought possible. Will he be able to survive what his future has in store? Or will he be sent packing? Find out when '_Connected_' returns with:

_**Chapter 2: Destiny Knocks!!**_


	2. Chapter 2: Destiny Knocks

Hi and welcome back to my latest fic '_Connected_' for lack of a better name. Hope you guys enjoyed the pilot because I hope you're ready for more. In this new work of mine, I hope to bring forth all my creativity and talent for you lot to enjoy for as long as you're willing to read on to find out what happens. But first things first before I rant much further: I don't own '_Young Avengers_' in any shape or form, but I plan on getting the books soon. Enjoy!!

"Iii" = speech

"_Iii_" = telephone speech

_Iii_ = thought

Chapter 2: Destiny Knocks

Detective Theodore 'Teddy' Altman had been driving around the city for what seemed like almost all day, even though the clock on his digital stereo system informed him it'd only been a few hours. He was sure by now that Greg was back at the office, pissed as hell, wondering where the hell he was and why he'd left without telling anyone. Much less taking him with him for whatever he might have planned. Which at this point, to be perfectly honest, wasn't much of anything. Find the two intruders, track them, and figure out why they'd been in their suspect's apartment last night. For the hour of driving around for literally no reason other than wasting gas, Teddy decided that his best luck was with the apartment complex where all this madness had started. After a small drive that took forever in his mind, Teddy got out and had to wipe away the fatigue from his face. He really wanted to get some sleep, shower and change before showing back up for work like he usually did after a long night of surveillance or something else unusually prolonged.

But if memory served, this case wasn't the waiting type. Like most, he only had so much time before the possible suspects packed up and left town, leaving no trace of themselves behind as they went. Putting his car in park in the large tarmac lot and pulling the key out as the engine slowly hummed to a stop, he leaned forward slightly to turn his gaze to the apartment he'd been in only six hours prior. It was a weird sense of déjà vu, but he had to go in to get the answers he needed to find the two men. Whoever the hell they were, much less why they were there to begin with, knowing full well that cops were watching the place. Scowling a little at the sunlight hitting him right in the eyes, reminding him he'd yet to get any sleep, he quickly pulled back and rubbed his eyes. He had to get this done and over with, while he was still able to think and the scents were still fresh. Fighting down the need to yawn and giving himself a firm, full body shake, Teddy let himself out into the chilly air as he pocketed his keys after locking it behind him. In minutes he was before the door leading to the suspect's apartment, silently wondering why he was hesitating.

_You were in here just last night and you're getting jittery? What the hell Altman?!? Okay. Pull it together. Just find out what those two guys wanted, track them down and you just might get to go home early for once._ Releasing a sigh, Teddy confidently grasped the door handle and turned it, slowly pushing the door inward. Upon first glance, it was exactly as it'd been only a few hours before: average person furniture in average cool colors. The walls a light cream color, even for a guy's place, with a poster here and there of some band he was sure he'd never heard of before. Like the last few times he'd been through the place, he ignored these things, heading right for the hall leading to the rest of the apartment. From what his nose could tell him, the scents from the night before were still pretty fresh, only his being the freshest of the lot as he walked to the intersection leading to the two rooms where he'd seen a man jump. And the other where he actually jumped out safely and got away. A fact that was now really starting to irk him to no end, and he was hating it. Thinking back now, his sleep deprived mind was somehow still able to put the pieces together for him.

_The guy that Greg fought with acted like he knew what he was doing and then vanished like he was Speedy fuckin' Gonzales. But the guy I chased ran like any other human, but somehow got me to think he went out one window rather than the other. Two guys… both the same size and build, working together despite having obviously different abilities. Just what the hell is going on here?_ Like the night before, the intruder's scent pulled him to the right and towards the still open window. Once again, the wind was making the curtains billow and fold gently, occasionally letting out a light snap when whipped aside. Like the night before, he leaned out as his vision switched to seek out what remained of the man's prints. They'd long since cooled off but prints didn't disappear unless someone or something made them vanish. And so far, his luck was the good kind. Within seconds he found the prints, still clean and fresh on the black metal, sticking out like cheap plastic glow in the dark decorations. Careful not to smudge or disturb the prints, Teddy cautiously maneuvered himself out onto the metal balcony, constantly looking down to avoid covering the prints with his own.

As he touched the metal railing, he flinched at the sudden shock of the mystery charge somehow stored in the metal itself. He even looked at his hand to find it twitching as it almost went numb from the sudden sensation. Frowning, Teddy touched the railing again, this time with both hands. Like he'd touched something hot, he had to pull away as the charge shot into his hands again, this time with a little more force. If anything, he was sure now: the other intruder had powers that only beings of legend possessed, and they were still working when he'd passed the railing. Moving to the next set of stairs down the blonde cop didn't hesitate to move to the next balcony, to once again test his theory. Once again, using both hands, he received the same shocking charge. But this time it'd lost some of its kick. Going down one more flight, Teddy tested this again, only to get the same result, except it was a bit weaker than the last. Giving his chin a rather thoughtful scratch, Teddy finally moved to the next to last metal balcony of the fire escape. Taking a breath, Teddy carefully gripped the side railing with his large hands. The charge was still there, even though it was barely detectable.

_He must've been powering down as he descended, and accidently left some of his mystical charge behind. That explains why the body of his 'double' vanished so quickly like that after it went out the window. And to think I'd thought he'd actually died or something._ As he was about to go down the ladder leading to the street, something about the scent on the metal got his attention. It was the same as always, for sure, but this time with a little twist. It was just reeking with anxiety, so much so Teddy thought that the world wouldn't stop spinning. Thankfully he was only a few feet off the ground when it hit so falling to fatal injury was highly unlikely. Letting out a sickened groan, the blonde cop had to lock his legs to avoid falling over from the sudden wave of thick emotion. He'd sensed some pretty heavy sensations before, but few were rarely this strong. Either the guy had been nervous about getting chased, or his comrade's well being. Regardless of this, Teddy knew he still had a scent to focus on. This was enough for him to work with.

Looking down once more as his eyes adjusted to his desired focus, Teddy quickly found the man's footprints leading off towards the busy street far to his right. He knew right off that following the prints after that would likely be useless. But he had other senses on his side, and he was sure he could get somewhere with this little escapade of his. Hopefully before Greg got back to the office, discover that he was gone and angrily called him several hundred times on his cell phone. Shaking off the last droves of the hovering emotion, Teddy quickly made his way to the sidewalk, looked around, sniffed, and literally followed his nose.

Close to what felt like hours later, Teddy found himself having walked from midtown all the way to a rather homely section of near Broadway and Central Park, the place filled with apartment complexes. By now the blonde detective really did wish he'd taken his car rather than walking the whole way but had found out earlier in his career that his tracking abilities didn't work so well when he was in a moving enclosed space. Quite literally cursing his luck and the Fates if they existed, Teddy once again took a calming breath as he set his nose back to work finding out where the man's scent would lead him next. He needed to focus on the task and hand, and ignore his cell phone that was constantly vibrating against his leg. From the way it'd been going for close to ten minutes told him that Greg had finally shown up for work, and was likely wondering where he was. Big surprise on his behalf.

Waiting for a slow moving car to go by, Teddy jogged across the street to stand in front of a rather Victorian looking apartment building. Calmly stepping up the front steps, Teddy was quickly hit by traces of both scents. Hinting either the two met often, or they actually lived together. But now wasn't the time to be guessing about such things. One way or another, he was going to get answers. Cautiously tapping the door handle, in case it was also charged as the fire escape had been, Teddy was a bit relieved to find it had nothing to offer when it came to small surprises. Entering proved even easier as the hall and the stairs were empty of anyone remotely close to being a resident. Ignoring the mail box/directory of names directly to his right upon stepping into the silent hallway, Teddy simply followed the scent upstairs. After a few flights and a good three stories up, the blonde cop found himself standing before a well worn door on the fourth floor, facing away from the street. Clearly chosen to distill more privacy than most tenants would ever hope to achieve, far away from creepy, nosey neighbors with nothing better to do. Staring at the door for about a minute, Teddy couldn't help but feel like a paranoid idiot as he eyed the doorknob like it was something dangerous. Especially since the constant buzz of his cell phone was starting to annoy him.

Finally not wanting to take it anymore, Teddy somehow snatched his phone out of his pocket, flipped it open to speak in a tone that just dripped annoyance. "Hello?"

Speak of the devil, it was indeed Greg. And as predicted, he wasn't pleased. "_Dammit Ted where the hell are you?!? I've been trying to reach you for over an hour._"

"Okay one? That's an exaggerated estimate and two? I've been following a hunch about the guys we didn't catch last night." Teddy calmly retorted, scowling at thin air as he sure Greg was doing on the other end.

Almost immediately he continued his angry interrogation via cell phone. "_The guy who jumped out the window and 'vanished' or the guy who punted me in the nuts and ran like his ass was on fire?_"

"Both." Teddy deadpanned. The tone of voice he was giving his partner should've been hint enough that he wasn't in the mood for this nonsense.

Sadly Greg didn't know how to take a hint. "_Oookay. Where are you!??_"

"Just… just sit tight will you? I'll call you back. And don't try to call me first. The feel of my phone vibrating against my leg made a muscle or two a little too relaxed." He growled, quickly flipping the device shut and stuffed it back into his pocket where it belonged, once again turning to the wooden obstacle before him.

_That shut him up for a while. Dammit Altman why the __**fuck**__ do you still even talk to that guy?!? Okay, okay calm down. Now's not the time for this. Take a good, deep breath and just knock on the door. Just… knock._ Hand poised to knock as his brain commanded, Teddy found it oddly difficult to complete the action. The fact that he was showing up, with no forewarning to why he was there as well as his intentions, and no warrant in his hand to make the person or persons inside to submit to his authority. But the only way he was going to understand where his case was leading him was to knock on the door. A simple action, an everyday thing, that usually prompted a simple response from the person beyond and so on and so forth. But here he was, standing there, wanting to kick himself for being unable to do something so fucking simple it was sad.

Finally after almost several minutes of contemplation, the blonde detective let his hand fall to grasp the doorknob, and turn it. Much to his surprise, it wasn't locked like he'd assumed it would be. This told him one of two things: one, the occupants had up and left long before he'd arrived on scene. Or two, they weren't aware they'd forgotten to lock the door and simply didn't believe that someone could just walk in. Either that or they just never bothered, ever. Leaving such thoughts for later, Teddy let go of the knob and lightly pushed the door open, eying the empty front hall with instinctive suspicion. All his eyes could find was a small table, a few pictures on the walls, a doorway or two he'd investigate, as well as a rather nice area rug that stretch to what looked like the living room. Pushing back his jacket, he fingered his gun sitting comfortably in its holster, allowing one leather shoe to follow the other as he eased into the apartment as silently as the wooden floor would allow. Stopping at one doorway, and then the next, Teddy found that both rooms were empty. One was a computer room while the other seemed like a storage room of some sort. But Teddy didn't exactly have the patience he usually had to investigate either of these rooms as he continued his wary path deeper into the home.

So far his entry had been smooth and the fact the apartment was so quiet was really starting to bother him. No way was someone's place this quiet unless no one was home, they were good at hiding or…_ I'm about to get more paperwork than I need right now._ He thought as he edged his way to the end of the hall, subconsciously holding his breath for what he might find or have to do once he looked. Steeling himself against a possible gun fight or a dead body, Teddy finally had the brains to look around the corner to his left to find, empty space and another hallway leading far off, but so far no one dead or threatening.

It wasn't until he started to look right that the hairs on the back of his neck really started to tingle, causing him to quickly spin and raise his arm against the blur of motion headed for the back of his head. The object, long, thin and metallic, bounced off the hardened green skin under his sleeves, letting off a loud clang. Surprised but not daring to show it on his face, his attacker quickly backed off, brandishing the now slightly dented crowbar like it was a sword, glaring at Teddy with great vehemence. By scent alone Teddy knew it was the runner that'd fought with Greg the night before, and he could honestly say he wasn't expecting this. His slightly pale blue eyes watched Teddy angrily, strands of white blonde hair, short and a little spiky, coming to fall over one of his eyes. As he remembered, the man was skinny but slightly muscular. Even as he stood slightly turned, Teddy knew there was more to this guy than appearances let on.

After a moment of tense silence, the man was almost in his face before Teddy could blink, barely giving him time to raise his arms to fend off the offensive metal tool. Like before, the crowbar let out clangs and twangs as its metal sang from hitting his armored skin. This constant barrage was getting both nowhere, and it was making his attacker extremely aggravated that his attempts to make Teddy step backwards weren't working. Somewhere in the middle of his assault he suddenly changed tactics. Teddy wasn't sure how, but for some reason the crowbar hitting his arms slowly started to become annoyingly painful as the hits came ever faster, and quite possibly harder. Scowling at this change, the blonde allowed for a few more hits to fall before finally snatching it out of the air and lifting it, and its holder, into the air. Eyes widening in shock at this, the man didn't fail to recover as he gave Teddy a swift head butt. So much so Teddy grunted, unconsciously letting go of the crowbar as he attempted to shield his face from anything else. Too late. The crowbar was back and this time when it hit, Teddy fell into the black abyss of unconsciousness.

Dull, pulsating pain brought Teddy back to the waking world, the fact that a pair of voices whispering off to the side somewhere told him that he was either still sitting at his desk, was in the hospital for head trauma, or he was still in the mystery pair's apartment. There were no sounds of goings-ons that suggested he was surrounded my nurses or coworkers so the final option was all his fuzzy mind was left with. But the fact that he was now lying on something soft and comfortable told him he'd been moved from where he'd fallen. Letting out a low groan as he kept his eyes shut against the suddenly bright natural lighting of the room as he attempted to sit up and get his feet back on the floor. The whispering, quick and aggravated, suddenly stopped as the blonde tried to set himself upright, only to regret it. His head was pounding and his now pressing want to sleep was too strong to ignore.

"Are you okay?" a voice suddenly asked, low and apologetic, the familiar scent of the jumper wafting over him like ocean wave.

Greatly confused not only by the smell but by the voice, Teddy didn't open his eyes as he turned his confused face towards the source of the voice. "Wha?"

Not even missing a beat the voice next to him continued to speak, sounding timid despite all the power that Teddy sensed in it. "I'm so, so, so sorry that this happened. Maybe you should lie back down."

"I've been hit." He said simply, ignoring the gentle and warm hand trying to push him down onto what he suspected was the couch.

"I'm serious, you really should lie down."

Even as his words registered in Teddy's brain, the same words still came out of his mouth for a reason that was beyond him. "I've been hit."

"You said that already." The voice stated, sounding slightly amused as Teddy finally let the gentle hands push him back down, his head throbbing.

"Damn. Damn it to hell." He grumbled in a low tone, his mind swimming, wincing as a wave of pain came over him. "I don't feel so good."

"Just lie back a minute." The voice repeated, the feel of warm fingers touching his skin making him almost flinch away from the contact as the pain in his head beginning to subside in a way Teddy didn't think was possible.

Off to the side, the other voice sounded off, angry and astounded. "Seriously? You're helping this guy? He broke into our house!"

"He didn't 'break in' Tommy. He came in of his own accord, and he didn't break the door as we assumed he would. There's a difference." The voice above him snapped, the tone in his voice told Teddy that he wasn't pleased with his companion at all.

Only his friend wasn't giving up so easily. "But still! He's a cop! You know what I think about cops."

"Yes, yes I do. You practically tell me every fifteen to twenty minutes." The voice deadpanned, his tone changing as he turned his attention back to Teddy. "Better?"

"Whoa." Attempting to open his eyes and failing, Teddy couldn't help but feel dazed as he had to ask. "What was that?"

Much to his surprise, the voice above him chuckled lightly, somehow warming up Teddy's chest for some reason. "Me fixing my brother's stupidity. Now you can sit up."

With some help from the ever gentle hands, Teddy once again tried to sit up and succeeded. Opening his eyes was another matter, since the light made him snap them shut as he grunted in surprise. "Ugh."

"What?" the voice asked, curious and concerned.

Teddy shook his head, rubbing his face with hands with the hopes of getting the sleep out of his eyes. "Bright."

"Ah. That'll pass." The man said simply.

From the other side of the room, Tommy scoffed. "Smart ass."

"At least I actually paid attention in health class. Unlike _some_ people." The voice said pointedly while Teddy finally got his vision to work in time to see Tommy roll his eyes.

Blue eyes glared at his counterpart, his voice low and angry. "I was defending our home against this guy and you're angry at me? Be pissed at him! Hell, ask him why he came in. Go ahead! Ask him."

Teddy looked to his left and was met with something rather interesting: an exact copy of the man he now knew as Tommy, only certain aspects were different. His hair was a rather dark brown, his eyes a hazel brown that glared in turn at his lookalike. It was obvious from the way Tommy was acting that he was the more confident of the two, but the other one seemed to be more in tune with common sense.

"Fine." The hazel brown eyes fell on Teddy, scent, sight and sound making Teddy want to pinch himself. No way he was this lucky. This became something to ponder later as the man looked at him with a questioning stare. "Okay Mr.--."

"Why am I seeing double? Is it because he hit me?" Teddy practically found himself demanding, proof that his mouth was out of tune with his mind. Without waiting for an answer from the man next to him, Teddy turned his gaze to Tommy, his eyes narrowed and accusing as he spoke through gritted teeth. "You fuckin' hit me!"

"And you deserved it!" Tommy snapped, a wicked smirk gracing his lips.

"No. My partner deserved getting kicked in the balls. I didn't deserve to get a head butt followed by a crowbar chaser."

The twin next to Teddy blinked in surprise, jumping at this new piece of information. "He kicked your partner in the balls? When?"

"Last night, right before you, or rather a very good copy of you jumped out a window and made me think you'd killed yourself. Thanks for that." Teddy said coolly, glancing at the twin with a raised eyebrow.

Almost immediately the dark haired man blushed, his face practically becoming a tomato with hair on it. "H-how did you--?"

Fighting the urge to smirk triumphantly, Teddy simply kept himself cool as he kept going, taking silent amusement at their faces. "Your prints leading away on the fire escape and down the street were a pretty big clue. That and your scent wasn't in the room where you'd jumped was also a good hint."

"M-my what?!?" the man's blush had gone from red to scarlet. Tommy just looked a little shocked by this news.

Teddy merely shrugged, acting fairly nonchalant. "Your scent. It's kinda how I found you guys. And half the reason I'm here to be honest."

"Wait a damn minute." Tommy growled, walking forward to stand directly in front of the blonde cop, sneering down at him angrily. "I'm lost now. You smelled your way here?"

"I guess you could say that." Teddy said as he shrugged again. He didn't hesitate to turn back to the twin next to him. "That and you left some of your mystic charge on that fire escape so that was a big clue also."

"Who the hell are you!??" Tommy may as well have screamed, his twin looking too embarrassed or shocked to say much.

"Just a detective who walked a little over fifteen blocks to find a pair of possible law breakers who escaped custody, forcing me to leave my car at the apartment complex where my partner and I have been watching a suspect since late afternoon of yesterday. And now, here I am, possibly suffering a concussion all because I was so cruelly assaulted by a crowbar." Teddy growled, Tommy clamping his mouth shut, his face pale. His twin didn't say a word. "Which begs the question: what the hell were you two doing in that apartment last night?"

"Uh…." The twin began to say before Tommy was back to yelling.

"That's none of your damn business!"

This time Teddy wasn't in the mood for arguments, easily making his hands turn large, spiked and grass green. He didn't even hesitate clenching one into a fist and stretching it forward to be right in Tommy's face. "You're not getting off that easy. I can easily arrest you right here and now for assaulting an officer of the law. And your attitude is really testing my patience. Now I came here for one reason and one reason only, and that's to talk. Nothing else. Now are we going to get along or do I have to start making calls?"

Having regained his composure, the unnamed twin was suddenly between them, placing a hand on Teddy's fist and making him set it down. The blonde waited patiently as the twin looked Tommy right in the eyes, his tone dead serious. "I don't think he's bluffing. Just sit in on this one okay?"

"But--!"

He didn't have a chance to say more when his brother's eyes started to glow bright neon blue, his voice echoing with power. "Sit. Down. Now."

Tommy's face twisted with indecision, glancing between his brother and Teddy before finally letting out a low growl. Turning on his heel in obvious frustration, Tommy crossed his arms childishly as he sat in a chair across the room. With an expectant gaze, the unnamed twin turned to Teddy. Realizing he hadn't changed his hands back, the blonde quickly let them go back to being human hands, removing on from the twin's grip as he averted his eyes and cleared his throat. "Okay, now that my head's done aching a bit, let's get started."

--_**An Hour Later**_—

Teddy had heard some odd excuses in his years as a cop, all of them for something or other that was minor but had ended up blowing up into something big. But off all the things that he'd expected to hear, what he'd been told wasn't one of them.

"You're private investigators? And you couldn't just tell us that from the start?" he asked, his face showing how he was having trouble accepting this information.

From across the room, Tommy was once again rolling his eyes. "You'd have just kicked us out as soon as we told you. Cops like you are always concerned with 'safety' and all that bullshit."

"Shut up Tommy." The twin, Billy as Teddy had discovered his name was, scolded from next to him. Like before, he gave Teddy an apologetic look. "Sorry. He kinda has a record."

"Somehow I don't doubt that." Teddy deadpanned, nodding in agreement.

"Dammit Billy don't be tellin' him that shit!" Tommy yelled, once again on his feet in anger and frustration, blue eyes ablaze as they burned holes into Teddy's face. "How can we possibly trust this guy?"

For once, Billy let his own eyes roll, glaring at his sibling. "Well for one: he didn't attack us like the other guy did. And two: the fact that we're both not in cuffs right now should tell you something about his character rather than you accusing him of something he's probably never even done."

"Oh he's probably done it. I'm sure of it." Tommy grumbled, flopping back down into his chair, arms crossed as he continued to glare at Teddy with great vehemence.

Glancing between the two, Teddy couldn't help but look truly confused. "Done what? What the hell are you talking about?"

"He thinks you're a dirty cop." Billy stated simply.

The blonde looked at him with raised eyebrows. "Ah. I trust that's the reason he tried to beat me to death with a crowbar?"

Billy just shrugged. "Yes and no. He's just an idiot."

"I TAKE OFFENSE TO THAT!!" Tommy practically screamed, angrily pointing an accusing finger at his sibling.

The dark haired man just glared back, its heat enough to make Tommy look like he wanted to be somewhere else. "It's what you get for beating up a cop. Now shut up before the neighbors hear you."

Tommy quickly recovered, hoping the change in subject would get him out of trouble with his brother. "So what now? He knows about us and is probably gonna arrest us anyway!"

Expectantly, Billy turned his questioning gaze to Teddy, making the man want to just up and fall over. He could swear that he could hear his own heartbeat. "Mr. Altman?"

"Just call me Teddy. And I don't see why I shouldn't employ your help on this." He managed to say as he fought down a burning blush.

Two sets of eyes widened in shock, Billy somehow speaking first. "What?"

"Seriously?" Tommy said, mirroring his brother's astonishment.

"Perfectly. This case is going nowhere and it's driving us all up a wall. Getting some fresh eyes and ears on it won't kill anyone. I hope." The blonde stated, quirking an eyebrow but then wincing as his head started to pang with pain again. "Unless, you guys still want me to arrest your for trespassing and resisting arrest."

"Does it still hurt?"

Teddy just shrugged at Billy's concern. "A little. But then again it doesn't help that I was up all night doing surveillance. I probably smell and gods in heaven knows how my partner's going to react to my doing things on my own."

"Then don't tell him." Tommy growled, his anger returning.

Only to get scolded once more by Billy, his brown eyes narrowed at the white blonde in disapproval. "Tommy! You're not helping."

"What? He knows I'm right. What you don't know can't hurt you."

Teddy only shook his head at this. "I still have to fill out a report, and keeping you out of that would mean dishonesty and probably forgery."

"Then go ahead and put us on paper. Tell your partner if you have to. You don't have to lie about knowing us." Billy said sternly, only making Tommy even angrier than before.

"Yes he does! I don't want anything to do with that son of a bitch partner of his. I'll be damned if he jumps me again."

Almost standing up, Teddy leaned forward instead, his face twisted in surprise and confusion. "Wait… what do you mean again?"

"I was just standin' there, waiting for you to come back and all of a sudden that douche bag of a partner of yours comes runnin' at me and tries to beat the living daylights out of me. No warning or anything. Just starts tryin' to rough me up."

Teddy gave Tommy a look of honest confusion. Of all the things, he definitely wasn't expecting to be told this. "That's not like Greg to just up and do that. You're sure that he just started to attack you, and didn't make any attempt to talk to you?"

"I'm pretty damn sure. And I would've told you if he hadn't told you to chase Billy out a window."

"Not on purpose!" Billy said quickly, looking sheepish under their gazes. "And I couldn't exactly attack a cop like you can."

Ignoring this for now, Teddy looked at the floor as his mind reeled. No way Greg would do something like that. Not without a good reason, one that he didn't seem to have. "I've known Greg for years. Hell, we went through the academy together. For him to do that and for no obvious reason isn't like him. Something doesn't smell right here."

"You got that right blue boy." Tommy snapped, once again in a nasty mood. Was this guy ever happy? Ever?

As it turned out, Billy'd had enough of his sibling's behavior, Teddy's car keys somehow appearing in his hand in a light flash of blue light. "Tommy! If you're not going to be at least a little nice, you can go get his car."

Tommy's jaw dropped, shock turning back into anger in seconds. "What?!? Like hell!"

"It's the most you can do right now for hitting him with a crowbar. And for God's sake, go the speed limit." Billy warned as Tommy scowled, stomped over to snatch the keys and was gone in a blur of color and wind.

Having watched the exchange in shocked silence, Teddy was quick to recover, shaking his head in awe. "Well that explains two theories I had about you two."

"Huh?" Billy turned back to him, truly curious about what the blonde meant. "Theories?"

Teddy shrugged, averting his gaze away from the eye that made him want to faint for some reason. "Well I figured you had some kind of mystic ability but the fact you did that with just a flick of the wrist blows everything out of the water. And his? Well, that was definitely not was I thought he was capable of."

"You're not the only full of surprises." Billy stated chuckling, only to stop at the oddly nervous look on Teddy's face, his eyes downcast. "Sorry."

Quickly bringing his eyes back up, Teddy shook his head with the hopes of reassuring Billy that he hadn't said anything wrong. "N-no. It's okay. I just… I'd always figured that I was the only guy on the island."

"Same here. Does Greg know that you can…?" Billy asked, leaving the end open even though both knew what he meant.

Again, Teddy shook his head, this time his eyes landing their gaze on the floor. "No. I've always kept it to myself. But I think my mom knows. I'd ask her but…."

"Too scared?"

For once Teddy chuckled, a distant look overcoming his face. "Nah, too polite. Her business is her business. She'll tell me… eventually."

Billy nodded sagely, a knowing smile gracing his lips. "She sounds nice."

Teddy nodded in turn, a nostalgic smile on his face. "She is. Though I think she's still having second thoughts about letting me become a cop."

"Seems like she really cares."

He merely shrugged at this statement. Such a thing wasn't really new to him. "I know she does. Only she has this weird way of showing it."

"Really? Like what?"

"If I told you, we'd be here for days." Teddy said, letting out another low chuckle at the thought of them just sitting there for the next week or so with him just going on and on. "And I don't think I can take a break knowing what's been going on lately."

Billy suddenly scowled at this concept. "What about your partner? Shouldn't we be including him in all of this?"

"I'm not sure. He's been acting a little weird lately. And it's got me on edge." Teddy muttered, rubbing his face with his hands, hoping that the Sandman would stay away just a little bit longer. "I don't know anymore. Something about him doesn't smell right."

"Why don't you get some rest? You look terrible." Billy said, his worried expression seeming to make Teddy's heart flutter. "We can brainstorm when Tommy gets back."

Uncertainty hid his rising blush, the rush of blood threatening to burn the skin right off of his face. "You sure? I can always just--."

This time Billy scowled, a serious and dangerous edge coming into his voice. "Rest. Tommy's not the only one who can knock people out."

"Point taken." The blonde said, complying with the command by lying back down on the couch, forcing his legs up onto the other end. Almost instantly his head was protesting, sending him another wave of pain. "Ugh. And my head still hurts."

"Lie back and relax. This won't even take a minute." The man said softly, Teddy quietly complying by switching directions so that his head was almost literally in Billy's lap.

Whether it was a minute or just ten seconds, Teddy didn't know. All he knew was that he did as his head was halfway down, the same hypnotic feeling coming over him as Billy's gentle hands were once again on his head. Their warmth was enough to make Teddy wish he could stay there forever, work and case be damned. Whatever pain that'd been trying to kick his brains out was certainly gone now, or at least he hoped it would be when he got up again. All this thoughts and concerns were suddenly out the window as he lay there, letting Billy do… well whatever it was he was doing. As his mind drifted to the never-ending abyss that was sleep, he couldn't help but wonder if he was imagining the feel of Billy's fingers in his hair.

Tommy came back close to twenty minutes later, still fuming a little as he slammed the front door behind him in frustration. Damn his brother and his damn charitable ways. Sure he loved his brother near to death but dammit he had limits to just how nice he could be to other people, cops included. Especially when one of them tries to break your leg for kicks. Ignoring the thoughts coming into his head, Tommy shuffled back into the living room, the cop's car keys stashed in his jean pockets.

"I'm back." He muttered before the sight in front of him made his eyebrows go skyward in muted shock. "Damn he likes to sleep doesn't he?"

Billy just rolled his eyes, scowling at his sibling. "He needs it. Apparently he doesn't mix well with insomnia. I'm surprised you're not still angry. Was traffic really that good?"

Tommy simply scoffed, lazily walking over to the chair across the room. "If only. Nah. I'm just tryin' to get over the fact that you want to work with this guy."

"He's certainly better than the other one. Unless you want me to get his cell phone and start pressing buttons?" Billy inquired, fully prepared to start searching Teddy's pockets for the little device.

"Hell no. I'll be damned if I have to deal with that guy by myself again. Not without you or this one to back me up. I swear that guy has problems." Tommy growled, crossing his arms over his chest as he leaned back into the chair.

"Or he's more involved than we thought." Billy said, thoughtfully more than factually.

A moment of silence filled the room, the twins allowing it to stretch a bit before Tommy finally nodded at the blonde man rest peacefully in Billy's lap. "You gonna wake him up?"

"No. He could use some downtime. Why? You want to try and beat him up again?" he asked, the scowl returning tenfold.

Tommy watched his twin, looking oddly thoughtful as his blue eyes narrowed almost suspiciously. "You like him don't you?"

Caught off guard, and fighting down a blush, Billy tried to protest. "What? I--."

"Oh c'mon Billy! I'm not as smart as you but I've got eyes. And right now I'm usin' 'em. And they see you fawnin' over a cop you only just met! No shame whatsoever." Tommy calmly scolded, giving his twin a rather devilish look.

"I-it's not like that! I just--!" face burning furiously, Billy had to look away from his brother's knowing gaze. "I'm just getting a good vibe ya know? Like we can trust him with all of this."

This time Tommy's face furrowed in concern as he eyed the sleeping cop. "You sure? I know it's rare for you to be wrong but still… I've got my doubts."

"Then they're noted. But I'm serious Tommy. He really does need our help. Just as we mostly will need his." He muttered, his thumb playing with a lock of blonde hair. So far Teddy had yet to move.

Once again the angry scowl was back on his face. "Let me know when he screws up. I want first dibs at beatin' his ass into the ground."

"Tommy--."

He didn't waste any time cutting his brother off. "I'm serious Billy. One false move and he's out. Cop or not, I'll take him down myself if I have to."

"Now you're just overreacting." Billy deadpanned, fighting down another embarrassed blush as the two tried to stare each other down.

Tommy was too busy scowling to care about much else. "Am I? Am I really?"

Finally Billy had to look away, his hand lighting up with blue light over Teddy's face, a few seconds of scrutiny making him frown. "You hit him too hard. He seems to have a natural healing ability but it's having trouble fixing the damage. I managed to get rid of most of it. I'm going to leave the rest up to him before I mess with it some more."

"This discussion isn't over." He growled, turning his attention back to the blonde cop lying next to his brother. "You gonna wake him up or not?"

Billy looked up again, the scowl back with a vengeance. "Give him an hour. There are even things that I can't fix. Like fatigue. Ever hear of it?"

"Fine, fine. I'll be back later. We need to restock on some stuff." Tommy snapped in annoyance, swiftly pushing himself up out of the chair before he was soon stomping back down the main hall.

"Do you have enough?" Billy called, hoping the man wouldn't be caught with a few dollars less than he needed at the counter.

Tommy paused at the door, as if in thought before calling back. "Yeah. Later." All Billy heard was the slam of the front door as his twin went to cool off.

For a reason that only he seemed to know but couldn't remember, Teddy didn't want to wake up. Screw work and paying the bills, and just toss everything else out the window. All the pain, hurt and blood that people were so willing to spill every day. He just wanted to stay where he was, forever feeling warm with gentle hands messing with his hair. As if by its own accord, Teddy could feel himself shifting, rolling a little as he started to lean into the touch. His ears barely caught a surprised gasp but he chose simply to ignore it. Whether it was real or not didn't matter to Teddy anymore. Getting up now would mean that he'd have to face everything, that he'd have to face Greg and his arrogant self. Soon the hands were back, one sifting through his hair while the other just seemed to be exploring his face. A few of the fingers passed his nose just as he took a breath, and he got full wind of a familiar scent that were already stirring butterflies in his stomach. It was Billy's, through and through, and he had to fight down a hum of pleasure just from getting a fresh whiff of it. Even if he was half conscious, he was sure that Billy was fully awake.

Even with his mind befuddled by sleep and the odd joy he was getting from all of this, he knew better than to let his emotions get ahead of him. For all he knew Billy didn't swing that way, and any efforts he made thereafter would be strained, possibly even awkward. Some of the people from high school had already taken to avoiding him a little. Not that college had been all that much better. Only a select few managed to find out, Teddy managing to keep it mostly to himself as one or two of the few avoided him. Not that was anything new to him. He was used to being treated differently over such a thing, but why did the possibility that Billy would reject him feel so painful? Usually he got over such a thing pretty quick and went on with his life. But why did this feel so different for some reason?

Sudden movement brought Teddy more into Reality Land than Dream Land, making him sit up a little as his eyes fluttered open. Quickly looking around, Billy was somehow gone and he was alone. Sleep swiftly forgotten, Teddy was instantly in cop mode, blue eyes scanning the immediate vicinity for anything odd or out of place. So far, the apartment had become silent as his ears strained to hear something, anything that would clue him in to what was going on. From what he could from the windows, it was still daytime outside. Quickly looking at his watch, he cursed to himself for being so careless. Three full hours had gone by since he'd arrived at the apartment and he was pretty sure that Greg was fuming by now. Not that would even come to be a surprise to him. Switching his vision to infrared, Teddy found two heat sources in the kitchen, a loud clunk and a muttered curse backing his findings. Forcing himself to relax, Teddy let normal vision take over as he sleepily shuffled into the kitchen through an extra door he'd failed to notice when he'd entered.

Wiping some of the sleep from his face, Teddy was a little surprised to see what he saw: Tommy was seated at the table, lazily sitting back while flipping through a magazine while Billy seemed to be organizing the fridge. So far, it looked like he had some idea in as to what he was doing when it came to what went where.

Finally having the brains to take off his jacket, vaguely noticing that part of a sleeve was damaged from Tommy's attack on him, Teddy stepped into the room. "Need help with that?"

Both twins jumped, Billy swiftly looking up like a deer in the headlights while Tommy nearly fell out of his chair. The white blonde muttered a curse while his brunette double let out a sigh of relief. "Oh god. Don't do that!"

"Sorry. It's a habit." He said sheepishly, placing his jacket over an extra chair, quickly scanning the produce spread about the table.

"He's a cop. What do you expect?" Tommy growled, haughtily readjusting his grip on his magazine as he stuck his nose between the pages.

As usual, Billy was swift to protest his brother's comment. "Tommy! Not helping!"

"What do you think I'm doin'?" the twin snapped back, glancing at him over his magazine with a look of extreme aggravation.

"Being a lazy ass! Now get up and help!" Billy growled, Teddy almost shivering from the wave of power hidden in his voice.

"Oh no. I went and got his car and I got groceries. You have to work now." Tommy snarled just as angrily, pointedly keeping his eyes on the printed text in his hands. "I'm on break dammit."

Just as Billy was about to respond, eyes alight with anger, Teddy decided it was best to step in before things went too far. "Alright, alright calm down. Both of you. I'll help."

Smiling nervously, Billy shook his head, waving at him to sit down. "No, it's okay. Really I can--."

"I can see that you're not used to stocking things very well. Now either I help or I kick you out. Which is it?" the blonde said gruffly, staring the other man down to show he wasn't about to take no for an answer.

After a moment of tense silence, Billy finally caved, moving away from the fridge to let the larger blonde take the helm. "Fine. I don't see why not."

Chuckling in amusement, Teddy calmly walked towards the fridge. "See? Not so hard now is it? Now let's see what we've got here…." His smirk of amusement fell before a shocked sneer of pure disgust took its place. Clearly some of the contents were either untouched, expired or simply not edible anymore. "Dear lord what the hell have you two been doing? This isn't college. I'm surprised even half of this hasn't been eaten yet."

Tommy sat up, suddenly interested in what the blonde was saying for once, eyeing both the cop and the fridge. "Really? What do you mean?"

"Well, this is expired. This is beyond expired and this… is no longer edible in any sense of the word." Teddy muttered as he held a container with two fingers, his face scrunched in disgust, carefully placing it on the table with two other items there were clearly not usable.

"Suddenly my fridge is a crime scene now? Oh great! Let me know when you're gonna be dustin' for prints wise guy." Tommy snarled angrily, promptly returning to his magazine.

Teddy turned his confused look to Billy, who just shrugged sheepishly. "I don't actually live here. I'm just staying until I get my own place."

"Did you live anywhere else before?" he asked, clearly concerned as he continued to pull ruined food items from the large appliance.

"Yeah but they had to close it up. Something about an infestation of some kind, an insect of some sort then again I didn't really question it. So I just started crashing here." The brunette stated, a guilty look coming over his face and voice. "At least until I find another apartment."

"Dude how many times do I have to tell you? You can stay here! I'm not gonna kick you out just cuz you can't find a new place." Tommy growled, finally putting his magazine down as he gave his double a stubborn face.

"I know but—!"

"Just hand me the garbage can before this thing starts moving." Teddy warned, holding an opened piece of foil in front of himself, his sensitive nose taking in the item's stench. It was so strong he looked like he wanted to puke.

Not having to be told twice, Tommy finally got out of his chair to grab the bin from a corner of the room. Within seconds he held it in front of Teddy, who quickly placed the thing inside. Looking in and suddenly regretting it, Tommy glanced between Teddy and the garbage can in his hands. "What was that anyway?"

"Beef, if you can still call it that. Then again, as you said, this is your fridge." The blonde stated coolly, continuing his quest to free the fridge of its many contaminates.

Tommy just rolled his eyes, scowling at the blonde. "Oh ha-ha real funny. Unlike you I don't need a car."

"Is he always like this?" he asked, glancing back at Billy for the answer.

Billy could only scoff, clearly amused by the question. "You have no idea. Just wait until he hasn't slept or drinks coffee."

Teddy blinked. "I'd rather not visualize something like that."

The brunette chuckled this time, despite Tommy's angry stare burning into his face. "Not really no."

He nodded, accepting this response as he turned back to his task. "So you're both investigators. What do you usually look into?"

"Oh you know: lost cats, stolen items and the like. Oh yeah! We even found that one kid's retainer after it fell in the river." The white blonde stated in obvious sarcasm, his teeth on display in a Cheshire grin. "And that was just the first two weeks."

"We also helped with some missing people, abductions… a murder or two." Billy added, clearly ignoring his brother's attitude.

Teddy froze, eyebrows rising in pure surprise at this information. "All with police help?"

Billy just shook his head. "No. We did it anonymously."

Tommy's grin was gone in seconds just as the words were uttered. "Oh no. _You_ did it anonymously. _I_ would've at least asked for a reward."

"Just because I'm not a big shot like you doesn't exactly give us the right to ask for money from the police!" Billy quickly retorted, scowling his disapproval at his double.

But said twin was quick to scoff, the anger rising in his eyes again. "Yeah but it'd be nice though."

"Tommy, you said you wouldn't bring this up again."

"Hey I'm just sayin'!" Tommy snapped, clearly on edge of becoming enraged.

Almost on cue, Teddy once again had to play referee. "Alright that's enough. Both of you. When was the last time you two ate a proper meal?"

"This morning. Why?" Tommy demanded, clearly suspicious of the question.

Teddy nodded, his face showing he was in thought before he finally spoke. "Hm. Well, that decided it."

"Decided what?" Tommy demanded, looking at Billy who only shrugged in his own confusion at what the blonde was planning.

Said blonde only snickered in amusement. "Once we're done here and I get my files from the office, I'll be cooking."

"Cooking?" the white blonde repeated, as the word were unknown to him. Again he turned to his twin for some kind of insight. "What's he talking about?"

This time Billy's face brightened a little, a sly smirk coming on his face. "I think he wants to treat us."

"Seriously?" Tommy asked, dumbfounded and slack jawed. Turning to the blonde cop, his face made Teddy think he'd grown another head. "Seriously? In all seriousness?"

Chuckling at his almost childish surprise, Teddy nodded in confirmation, a kind grin revealing his pearly whites. "Yes Tommy, I am being serious. And only because you obviously have no culinary skills to speak of."

"Hey!" Tommy suddenly snarled angrily, huffing in indignation. "Not my fault my parents were too drunk to teach me anything!"

"Mine were pretty okay. I should be able to help." Billy added, sounding a bit sheepish, which wasn't all that new.

What they'd just said was. And it caught Teddy off guard enough to look from one to the other. From the look on his face, what they'd just said hadn't really made much sense. "Wait… you're from different families?"

Tommy didn't say a word, his face having grown hard. But Billy looked unusually sad, his attempts at smiling it off failing miserably. "Uh yeah… we were uh… kinda adopted by different couples."

Teddy blinked. Of all the things, he didn't expect that. After a few seconds of silence his brain finally processed the information well enough to respond. "Oh. That makes sense."

Just as soon as he'd spoken, the silence was back, stretching on for a few minutes as the three stood rather awkwardly in the kitchen. Nodding at the open fridge, Tommy eyed the remaining contents with suspicion. "You almost done?"

Looking between the garbage can and the fresh items on the table, Teddy could honestly nod in affirmation that his task was done. "Yeah. Just stick all of this in there for now and I'll be back in about an hour."

"Here." Tommy grumbled, reaching into his jeans pocket and pulling out something metallic and jangly that Teddy almost didn't recognize. "Your keys."

"Ah. Thanks. And guys?" he said, smiling the same kind smile, taking the keys out of Tommy's hand. "Lock the door this time."

This time Billy actually laughed, the butterflies in Teddy's stomach almost doubling in number, barely managing to hold his expression in place. If Billy noticed, he didn't show it as he spoke. "Good advice. See you later!"

Using his empty hand, accompanied by his special abilities, Teddy stretched his arm, quite literally across the table to where he'd left his jacket. Returning his arm to normal and casually stashing his jacket over one of his shoulders, Teddy just smiled at their expressions of pure shock. "Bye."

Leaving the two to themselves, Teddy casually made his way to the door and out into the hallway. Needless to say, he hadn't really expected all of this to happen, much less to him. As much as he wanted to try and wrap his head around it, he finally decided to just leave it for later as he shut the door behind himself. Just as he got to the end of the landing leading down, Teddy's ears vaguely caught the sound of almost rushed footsteps and the click of a lock being turned. He couldn't help but smile his way down to his car. Getting in and starting it up, the reality of what he had to face finally hit him. His partner was likely going to bite his head off, his boss would probably do the same if he caught him several hours of being off the radar. Just even trying to explain it all failed in his mind, and every time, he just wanted to go back upstairs and be on that couch for a few more hours. But he knew he couldn't do that. It'd be in violation to his solemn vow to the city's people to protect them. And the thought of denying them his assistance cruelly stabbed at his heart.

Coming dangerously close to slapping himself, Teddy finally put the car in gear, grabbed the wheel as he lightly put his foot on the gas pedal. If he got yelled by both his partner and his boss when he showed up at work that was fine by him. But just as long as he got a killer off the streets, he wouldn't really care what anyone said.

Man! It's finally done! It's a little longer than I planned but that's the thing about writing huh? Don't I know it. I'm glad that this story got such a positive response by those who stopped by to check it out so I'm kinda usin' it as fuel to keep goin'. So before I restart some kind of random rant, let's get to it shall we? Here's what's to come:

Next chapter:

Chapter 3: Death Over Dinner

As our mystery pair's identities are revealed, a lurking shadow still remains unnamed by all, bearing the bloody hands of a murderer. Will the trio's combined abilities be enough to put a killer behind bars? And just why is Greg such a jerk? Find out in the next all new chapter of '_Connected_' with:

_**Chapter 3: Death Over Dinner!!!**_


	3. Chapter 3: Death Over Dinner

Hi again! And welcome back to my latest work known simply as '_Connected_'. I hope that the first two chapters have been real eye-poppers. It's taken just about all my creative concentration to keep working on this and others so I hope I'm still dishing out my best of the best. Then again, who am I to judge? Why? Well, just keep reading and find out. In the meantime, I'll take the time to do the necessary proceedings. I don't own '_Young Avengers_' in any shape or form. But I've finally gotten my hands on one of the books, which makes me really, really happy….. On the inside. Yeah. Anywho…. Enjoy!!

"Iii" = speech

_Iii_ = thought

Chapter 3: Death Over Dinner

Driving back to the precinct seemed to take forever. And not just because traffic was a little on the slow side. Mostly because Teddy's mind was trying to produce means of explaining away almost six hours of absence when he should've been doing his job. For the first two and a half, he had been. Until he got hit over the head with a crowbar, ending up being asleep for almost all of the remaining four hours he'd been there. Now he had to somehow get to work, get a copy of the case file, go home, get cleaned up and be back and Billy and Tommy's in time to make them dinner. All in an hour's time no less. Just the thought of somehow pulling it off was starting to make him nervous. It was making him regret not leaving his cell phone number behind in case one of the twins called, or getting their number in case he needed to be the one dialing them up. Mentally kicking himself for forgetting something so basic, Teddy knew it was a little late to go back now. He was already more than halfway to his precinct where he was likely going to meet Greg, and he was sure the man wasn't very happy.

Quickly finding a place to park and grabbing his jacket from the passenger seat, Teddy reluctantly exited his car. He instantly shivered against the shocking chill of the early autumn air against his face, hands and wrists. Even though he was wearing a long sleeve t-shirt, he was once again scolding himself for keeping them rolled up at mid-forearm. Fixing his sleeves and putting on his jacket, he pocketed his keys as he nodded at fellow cops and people passing by as he headed for the doors. Upon entering, Teddy was relieved to find his partner and his boss nowhere in sight. Not daring press his luck, the blonde did his best to head casually for his desk, quickly finding the file in question still on top of just about everything else. Collecting all its contents and clasping it closed with a clip, Teddy was sure he could find a good friend who could give him a reprint of it all. _Now I just need to get out of here--._

"Ted! There you are!" a familiar voice shouted, nearly making everyone in the room jump in surprise.

_--unnoticed. Shit._ He mentally cursed his luck for turning on him, but managed to pull a cool face to show Greg as he approached. As he'd predicted the brunette looked just as angry as he usually got when someone spited him over something. And that happened way too often. Teddy quickly put a calm smirk in place, hoping it would be enough to dissuade his partner from killing him.

Straining the smirk as best he could, Teddy kept his tone even as he spoke coolly to his fellow officer of the law. "Hey Greg. What have you been up to?"

"Barely anything since you've been out and about doing god knows what! Now where the hell have you been all this time?!?" Greg demanded through gritted teeth, his face twisted in barely contained rage, red coloring his usually pink skin.

Without missing a beat, Teddy simply continued his calm charade. "Me? Getting some fresh eyes for our case."

"What?" Greg snapped, his storm grey eyes narrowing suspiciously at the blonde's words, crossing his arms as he spoke. "What're you up to?"

"Nothing! Just trying to see if I can't work on this from a different angle, that's all." He said innocently, allowing his face to show real concern. "How's our suspect?"

Greg continued to scowl angrily at the blonde but did nothing. "Not talking and we're running out of time. If we don't find something on him fast we'll be forced to let him go. Just who exactly are you getting to help us with this?"

Teddy let his calm demeanor deflate a little. But only a little. The last thing he wanted was for Greg to find out how tired he was. "All I can say is that they want to anonymous for now. Just trust me on this. Please?"

The brunette shifted under Teddy's pleading gaze, clearly weighing his options about what to say. Finally he gave in. "Fine. I'll play along. For now. But you'd better fill me in on what the hell it is that you're planning or your ass is gonna end up in a sling."

Without waiting for a response, Greg turned on his heel and stomped away, clearly in a huff at their conversation. Honestly surprised at his surviving the encounter unscathed, Teddy quickly snapped back to reality, knowing he was on the clock. Taking one last look at this desk for anything he might've forgotten, he headed deeper into the building in search for a reliable coworker and a scanner.

--_**An Hour Later**_—

Bearing a fresh copy of the case file and a refreshed demeanor, Teddy parked in front of the apartment building he'd first arrived at only a few hours before. Only now he was back on more friendly terms. Armed with some fresh produce of his own and the case file in hand, Teddy shut and locked his car before once again heading up the steps into the building. Within minutes he was back on the fourth floor, standing before the very door he'd entered and gotten himself knocked out by a crowbar. Knowing that it was unlikely to be unlocked, Teddy calmly knocked with a free hand, waiting patiently to be let in. seconds later, footsteps came thumping forward, the door quickly coming open to reveal it was Tommy on the other side.

Almost immediately the white blonde was grinning like he'd just won a bet. "See? That wasn't so hard now was it?"

Teddy couldn't help but smirk, chuckling at the man's nerve. "Just don't hit me and we'll call it lesson learned. Now gimme a hand with this."

Shrugging off the comment, Tommy did as he was told, grabbing one of the bags as he stepped aside to let the blonde cop inside. Gazing into the paper bag, his expression clouded like he was looking at something foreign. "What is it?"

"Just some extra stuff I'm sure you two couldn't get at a corner store. Where's Billy?" he asked, eying the empty living room as he passed through to the kitchen and set the rest of his items down on the table.

Not far behind, Tommy set the bag down on his side of the table, slightly confused by the contests as he spoke. "In the back, getting some sleep. Healing you took a bit out of him."

"And can we safely assume that it's all your fault?" Teddy inquired, earning yet another sour glare from the white blonde.

"Don't even try to pull that shit with me. I've dealt with a lot of cops before. It's only a matter of time before they get sour."

Teddy just let out another amused chuckle at his words. "They as in me huh? Well I don't know who you've met but I can honestly say that tricking you is the last thing on my mind right now. I really do need help and if you two are able to get things rolling…"

He stopped once he saw the look Tommy was giving him. The man looked like he'd eaten something unbelievably disgusting. "Of all the people."

Confused and a little concerned, Teddy's brows furrowed. "What?"

Like a stick of dynamite, Tommy practically exploded with frustration, his voice on edge of yelling him hoarse. "You're a fuckin' boy scout! Of all the people they've got on the force, we gotta deal with a fuckin' boy scout."

"Hey! Keep that up and I might really go out of my way to arrest you." Teddy warned, his voice showing he was only half serious as he started to unpack the bag in front of him.

Tommy rolled his eyes, mirroring Teddy's actions. "Bastard. You gonna cook or what?"

"Since Billy's asleep, you're gonna help."

His reaction was immediate, negative and indignant. "Say what?"

Teddy looked him right in the eyes. "Do you want to eat or not?"

"If I burn something I'll just blame you." Tommy growled while the blonde cop just laughed it off.

"Uh huh. Right. That sounds sooo believable."

Glaring viciously, the speedster was done playing games. "Just tell what to do you prick."

"Fine, fine. Here's what we're goin' to do…."

Nearly an hour and several mistakes, close calls and arguments later, the meal was made just in time for Billy to come wandering in dressed simply in a t-shirt and jeans. Clearly half alive due to sleep, his hair looking like it'd been hit by a fan, the dark haired man had to blink a few times at the oddly neat spread covering the kitchen table. Needless to say that seeing something so organized was unusual to him. Wordlessly accepting what he was seeing as reality, Billy didn't hesitate to take a seat at the table as he tried to wipe the sleep from his eyes.

Once again putting on a kind smile, Teddy decided to greet him as he put a plate in front of the man. "Mornin' sleepy head. Did we wake you?"

"Kinda. Mostly loud, angry shouting. And the smell… along with shouting." Billy grumbled as he slid his fingers through hair Teddy now realized was more black than brown.

"Don't even try to pin anything on me." Tommy growled in warning, placing serving bowls full of food onto the table before taking a seat as well.

"Just give the man some food before he falls asleep again. Carrots?" Teddy inquired, holding one of the bowls before the dark haired man, the cooked veggies still steaming. Letting a thankful smile come onto his face, Billy accepted the bowl from him.

"Please. I see you've yet to be assaulted. There a reason for that?" he inquired, glancing from one man to the other.

As predicted, Tommy rolled his eyes glaring at his brother with exasperated eyes. "He walked in like he owned the place! What was I supposed to do? 'Hey mister! I'm going to bash your brains in because I have no fuckin' idea why you're in my home. Bomb's away'! Am I that predictable?"

"Just a little." Billy said chuckling, earning him an indignant noise from his pale haired double. Taking his serving of the carrots and passing them back to Teddy, a question suddenly came to mind. "Did you see your partner yet?"

Teddy grimaced, but managed to keep a piece of the smile in place. "Unfortunately yes. And he wasn't very happy about my being gone all day. He's pretty anxious to get things rolling and so am I."

"That's understandable. He's a dick."

"Tommy!" Billy snapped, glaring at his brother. Tommy was quick to defend himself against the scolding.

"What!? It's true. The guy was a real jerk."

"Do I have to put you two in time out?" Teddy asked, glancing between them with a rather serious look on his face.

Tommy's jaw dropped while Billy simply blinked. Both men were staring at him as if he'd suddenly grown two more heads. After a few seconds of stunned silence, Tommy was once again quick to respond. "You're joking right? Is he joking?"

"No, I'm not. Keep this up and I'll toss you out the window." The blonde growled, locking his gaze on the white haired man, hoping his stare would be enough.

"What? You wouldn't--." The look on Teddy's face was enough to make him stop and shy away, ducking his head as he poked his food with his utensils. "Right."

An awkward silence fell over them, all three men chewing their food into the quiet of the room. Once a few minutes went by, Billy finally noticed the police folder sitting on the counter behind Teddy. Nodding in its direction, he finally spoke. "So you brought the file for us?"

Following Billy's gaze, Teddy turned back with a nod. "Yeah, a copy at least. We can look at it when you're done eating. Can't have you getting sick from it while you're eating."

"You think we can't take a few pictures? C'mon man!" Tommy snarled with obvious indignation, the glare once again burning through Teddy's face.

His expression quickly turning sour, Teddy's sky blue eyes took on a serious edge as he met the man's burning gaze. "Hey! I look at the bodies of the dead every day and even then I'm still getting hit in the gut by it. What makes you think you can take it?"

Tommy didn't seem intent on backing down. "You think I can't?"

"I didn't say that but if you can--."

"Bring it copper!" the man suddenly snarled. Billy watched on nervously as Teddy eyed the man across the table from him with a thoughtful stare. After a moment, he finally spoke.

"Alright." Turning and easily grabbing the folder on the counter without even leaving his chair, Teddy swiftly opened it, sifted through the contents until he found what he was looking for before putting the folder off to the side. All the while careful Billy didn't see anything the folder or the picture contained. Cupping the picture with a finger, Teddy made sure the white underside was visible as he passed it over to Tommy. "Try this one on for size."

Angrily snatching it from the blonde's grasp, Tommy quickly turned the picture over, only for his face to tell them how he regretted it. His skin going from pink to pale, Tommy quickly tossed the picture aside as he swiftly ran from the room. One second he was there, the next a door on the other side of the apartment slammed shut. The picture fluttered to the floor, but never touched it as Teddy's stretched arm gave him enough reach to grab it and return it to the folder before Billy could so much as get a glimpse of it.

Eyeing the folder with curiosity, Billy simply shook his head at the blonde cop's actions against his sibling. "Did you have to do that?"

"Got him to shut up didn't it?" when Billy simply scowled at him, Teddy tried keep from laughing as he went back to his plate. "What? It did! At least now we can eat in peace and quiet."

"And to think you thought we needed to be put in time out." The man muttered with a light chuckle, letting another silence hang over them before turning his attention to the folder again. "What is that anyway?"

Teddy's serious expression was back. He didn't want to deal with two sick men at once, even if it was on purpose. "I'm not showing this to you! At least not right now anyway. For all I know you could go running off like he did. You fixed my head so the least you can do is hold down some food."

This time it was Billy's turn to look deadly serious, dropping his fork on his plate so he could fold his arms stubbornly. "Do I really seem that fragile?"

"Uh…." Teddy knew he was cornered now. Hell, he was fighting hard not to blush like he'd seen something he wasn't supposed to. "Honestly?"

"Uh yeah." Billy demanded, waiting almost impatiently for a response. After a few seconds of watching the blonde, something about his expression made some of the indignation dissipate. "What?"

Just as Teddy opened his mouth to speak, Tommy was suddenly back in the room, and he didn't look happy. "Damn you. DAMN YOU AND YOUR PICTURES!"

"I told you but did you listen? Nooooo." Teddy said triumphantly, letting a grin spread across his face, ignoring Billy's puzzled stare. "Mr. I'm-So-Tough thought he could handle one measly picture."

"Shut up. And don't show him that! He's got a weaker stomach than me." Tommy snarled viciously as he retook his seat in the hopes of finishing his meal.

Billy quickly turned on him, his brown eyes flashing a dangerous blue shade. "And you know this because…."

The evil grin that came on Tommy's face seemed to take both men by surprise. "The last time you upchucked, you let out both lunch and dinner. Or what was left of it."

"I did not!" he quickly retorted, his hands slamming on the table. Teddy watched on, not missing the red blush of embarrassment slathering itself onto Billy's cheeks.

Only Tommy wasn't done just yet. "You so did! The bathroom smelled like vomit for almost two days!"

"That's because you decided to try and feed me your 'cooking'!"

Before Tommy could even retort, Teddy finally let his own voice loose, making sure that it was loud enough for both to pay attention to. "ALRIGHT! Alright… that's quite enough. Both of you sit down and eat. And when we're done, we'll look at the file together. You got me?"

The two men blinked at him, taken aback by his words. Almost instantly Billy nodded, his voice nothing more than a whisper. "Yeah."

Teddy turned his gaze to Tommy, who immediately nodded in turn. "Fine."

Eyeing both men cautiously, Teddy found their responses satisfactory. "Good."

It was a full hour later, when the meal was finished and everything cleaned and put away that the blonde cop finally decided to let the two see the folder. Even seeing it after just a few hours the pictures and the report still stirred Teddy's stomach. He knew the victim's daughter, and knew from the calls that she kept making to his phone that she was in shambles. Despite what the two men sitting at the table with him told him, he felt oddly uncomfortable showing them the brutal pictures and heartless words that he and his colleagues had written. But that didn't matter right now. Teddy knew that if he didn't get things going soon, the killer was likely to strike again. And the last thing the city needed was a serial killer wandering around taking down one victim after another. Glancing at the twins seated with him, he could tell that they weren't used to seeing such horrifying images. Billy looked like he wanted to run and throw up while Tommy just growled and muttered a curse under his breath.

Keeping a tough exterior was proving difficult for Teddy, but he managed to steel himself against the folder's contents. "As I said, I wanted to wait until you two got some real food in you but that might've been a mistake. Either way, I need both of your help with this. As you can plainly see, Dr. Scott Lang has had a rough day."

Billy nodded, taking a breath or two to calm his nerves. "We know. And we know him."

Taken aback by this news, Teddy's serious expression shattered so that his shock and confusion could bleed through. "What?? How is that possible!?"

"We met his daughter in college. It's been a few years since we've seen her. We've been trying to find her since we heard about this. So far, nothing." Tommy muttered in annoyance, picking up one of the pictures only to grimace at it.

"I guess that explains why we haven't met before now." Teddy said, rubbing his chin in thought.

Instantly perking up, both men stared at the blonde, Billy the first to utter the question on both their minds. "What do you mean?"

Teddy just shrugged, keeping his eyes on the papers in front of him. "I met Cassie in high school but she moved away to go to a different college than me. We lost touch for a while but she'd sometimes pop in for some reason or other. When I showed up at her place to give her the news…"

Both men stared at him, clearly stunned. Tommy spoke first, his voice soft and hesitant as the words passed through his lips. "How is she? Is she okay?"

"She's staying at her boyfriend's place until we're sure that she's not the next target, if there is one to speak of. Other than that, she's really broken up about this."

"Can we talk to her?" Billy asked, Tommy nodding in agreement. The blonde cop eyed them, smiling understandingly.

"Maybe later. We need to go through this first. I want to show up with some more clues rather than questions."

Tommy instantly clammed up, Billy staring at the pictures with a saddened look on his face. Just seeing it was making Teddy kick himself for involving them in police business. "Right. So what do you know?"

Snapped out of his thoughts, Teddy found himself searching the paperwork for the information he needed, skimming past whatever could be looked at later. "Uh… single gunshot wound to the head, nearly took off the top of his skull from the sheer force of it so we're thinkin' high caliber gun. We couldn't find any bullet casings so either it was a really powerful revolver or the killer took the time to pick it up on his way out."

"I don't recognize this room. Where is this?" Billy asked, scowling as he pointed at the background of one of the pictures. The room itself was clean and professional, composed of books and various knick knacks on cherry colored furniture. Sadly the only disturbance to this air of professionalism was brought on by the corpse of the occupant.

"His home office. He lived alone since his wife divorced him and took Cassie with her. According to her she used to visit daily when her job didn't keep her from showing up. She really did love her father." The blonde said sadly, as the memory of seeing the poor blonde woman breaking down into tears started to replay in his head.

Tommy was being oddly silent in comparison to Billy, who was now doing all the talking. "Can you take us to the scene? I might be able to find something you didn't."

One of Teddy's eyebrows lifted in question, making both twins wince. "Is that why you were at our suspect's home last night?"

Finally Tommy chose then to say something. "We figured you were after someone important. Why else would we follow cops around?"

"Tommy. You're not helping."

In seconds the white blonde was back to his old irritated self again scowling at his sibling as he spoke in his own defense. "What? It's true. And it's all because you didn't want to just walk up and say 'hey guys! We'd like to help you on this murder investigation. You don't mind do you?'"

"He does have a point." Teddy muttered, nodding in agreement to the thought.

"Whose side are you on!??" Billy snapped, nearly rising from his chair clearly indignant.

Teddy waved him back into his seat, a serious looking coming back onto his face. "I'm on the side of whoever helps me get a killer off the streets. And right now, that side just so happens to be yours. Now can you help me out or not?"

"I can, but this could take time. We need--."

Billy wasn't able to say more as Teddy cut him off, his voice making it clear that he was tired of going in circles. "We're almost out of time! Our suspect, the one who I chased, hasn't said a damn thing and the twenty-four hour deadline's coming fast. He could skip town for all we know."

An evil grin came onto Tommy's face, the look in his eyes making the two other men want to shiver just from the sight of it. "Not while I'm around. I could find him easy."

Teddy let out a hollow chuckle. All this excitement was making him tired all over again. "Thanks but that's not the point. Something was stolen from Mr. Lang's office, something the investigation team missed."

Tommy was quick to give the blonde a questioning look. "And you know this how?"

Sky blue eyes looked away sheepishly, the blonde cop not helping but squirm under their scrutiny. "I can see stuff okay?"

"Oookay. Anyway, I'll need to get back into that guy's apartment as well as Mr. Lang's office. Maybe I can pick up just what it was that was taken." Billy stated calmly, eying the crime scene pictures with a thoughtful expression.

It was Teddy's turn to quirk an eyebrow. "You can do that?"

The raven haired man just chuckled. "Half the reason why we were in that guy's place to begin with. Just don't chase me out a window okay?"

Teddy snickered, raising his hands in surrender. "Deal. Just as long as he doesn't decide to try and punt me in the nuts like he did my partner. Which, mind you, he's probably still fuming about."

Both Billy and Teddy turned to look at Tommy, who hadn't moved at all. After a few seconds, the white blonde sighed in defeat. "I won't even try to take a swing. No matter how tempting it is right now."

"Very funny. Shall we go?" Teddy deadpanned, gathering up some of the scattered papers as he got to his feet.

However, Billy didn't move, staring intently at some of the pictures now firmly in his grip. His brown eyes seemed to burn with intense concentration. "In a bit. Are you sure that this is all that you have on the case?"

"Yeah. Why? Is something wrong?" Teddy asked, leaning over the spread of papers and pictures, his blue eyes scanning for anything he'd missed. So far, there didn't seem to be anything that wasn't already part of his memory.

"I'm not sure." Billy muttered, shaking his head as he too got to his feet, helping the blonde recollect all the papers before the man put them into the folder. "But I guess I won't know until I see it for myself."

Teddy nodded, tucking the folder under his arm. "Right. Let's go."

Both men were already headed for the door, Tommy not far behind with an unnoticed look of concern on his face.

--_**Ten Minutes Later**_—

Once again at the wheel, Billy in the passenger's seat while Tommy lounged in the back, Teddy calmly weaved his way through late afternoon traffic. The rush had come and gone, so getting to Scott Lang's apartment took merely a half hour or so to reach. And thankfully, Tommy didn't complain or say anything sarcastic for once. Instead he simply lay calmly on his back, staring coolly at the ceiling as they drove along in complete silence. Absent mindedly handling the car with ease, Teddy was dreading having to go into that respected man's apartment again. It was bad enough that Cassie had been crying herself to bits the first time he'd come to see her after giving her the news. Just seeing her that way tore at him, like a slow moving disease, that was slowly tearing him apart. So much as thinking about it was making him kick himself for not doing more, working harder, or even taking the time to even consider that something about the murder was on the fishy side.

He must've been making a face because a familiar voice from his right brought him out of his thoughts. Luckily they were at a red light so it was safe for him to look in time to remember that he wasn't alone anymore. Billy's brown eyes, hazel colored in the light and filled with a kind air, stared at Teddy with a look of concern. A little confused by this, Teddy felt like an idiot for so much as uttering the word he said next.

"What?"

The dark haired man was obviously trying hard not to smile. "I said are you okay? You look like you're thinkin' about something."

"He's not gonna drive us off the bridge is he?" Tommy grumbled from the backseat, sitting up as he eyed the back of Teddy's head.

"Tommy! You're--!"

Teddy cut Billy off, fighting down a saddened smirk of amusement. "No it's… it's okay. Really. I just…. I'm tired as hell, this case has been going on for almost three weeks and I don't want to face Cassie with more questions and no answers. She's… she's suffering as much as it is. And if I was gonna go off the bridge, I'd make sure I didn't have passengers first."

"Don't say something like that! It's like you said! You need our help and you've got it. All we need to do now is find any missing pieces and put the puzzle together. So no suicide attempts." Billy warned, backing his words with a glare from glowing blue eyes. "Not even a single thought you hear me?"

"As if I could do something like that! My mother would be on my heels crying her eyes out asking me why. It's bad enough that she lost my dad so early on." Teddy muttered, vaguely seeing the road through the sad look in his eyes and on his face.

Both twins perked up, curious about this odd statement. "Your dad?"

Teddy chuckled, casually shrugging the question off his shoulders. "Behold, the single child of a star-crossed relationship, a quick marriage followed by a swift and bitter end." Even if he wasn't looking at them, both men could tell he was trying hard to hide the sadness that was coming over him. "My dad was a cop too. He died in a shooting over a major gun smuggling ring hoping to bring a little something more than guns into the country."

"How old were you?" Billy asked suddenly, snapping Teddy back to reality.

"Only a few months old. My mom likes to joke about how they kept on trying to put large number bills into my little hands for my college funds." He said coolly, letting out another chuckle at the thought.

Billy looked away, Tommy wisely keeping his mouth shut. "Sorry."

The blonde cop simply shrugged it off too. "It's okay. I'm used to it by now. We're almost there."

"When was the last time you saw your mother anyway?"

Confused by this sudden question, Teddy didn't look away from the road as he answered. "Two months ago, for her birthday. Why?"

"Maybe you should go see her soon. It might do you some good to see her."

Right then and there Teddy almost stepped on the brakes, turning to look at Billy with a shocked look on his face. "I'm in the middle of a case! I'm not about to--!"

"Will you just listen?" Billy demanded, effectively making Teddy immediately clamp his mouth shut as he eyed the man from the corner of his vision. "Just go see her when you've got the time. We can even cover for you if that's what it takes. Okay?"

After a moment of silent thought, Teddy finally let out an amused chuckle. "I'll think about it. Right now I want to get a better lead on why someone would kill Dr. Lang. No matter how I look at it, nothing about this whole thing makes sense."

Billy nodded in agreement, watching Teddy out of the corner of his eye. "Okay… what do you know?"

"Well… he was an accomplished scientist and teacher. Everybody at his work loved him to bits and he had no obvious enemies. Divorced, lived alone, had tenure at the university. Hell he doesn't even have a parking ticket! Why someone would kill him like that is… it just doesn't add up." Teddy growled, shaking his head as he kept his eyes on the road. Just thinking about how such a nice man could be blown away so easily was making it hard for him to focus on driving them to the scene.

"Any eyewitness reports? Did he leave the house that day? Did someone come to see him? Anything at all?" Billy almost demanded, Tommy glancing between them from where he sat up in the backseat.

Teddy just shook his head, his expression twisted in confusion. "I'm just as surprised as you are on this. His neighbors said he never went anywhere unless it was a special occasion or work. And his only real visitor was Cassie. Beyond that, it was like he was in his own little world. On top of that, a neighbor was able to confirm that the suspect we have back at the precinct was seen leaving his apartment the day of the murder."

"So you think he did it?" Tommy finally asked lazily. The fact he was even trying to include himself in the conversation was a little hard to believe.

Again the blonde cop simply shook his head, turning the wheel as he calmly switched lanes as soon as he saw a gap. "Not really, but I think he might have some kind of connection to it. For all we know he could be just a hired hand in all this. I'm not sure why but I think he's the one who was shifting through the good doctor's files."

"As I said, I might be able to help you figure that out." Billy said matter-of-factly from beside him, making the blonde remember a long lost question from the back of his mind.

"And how are you going to do that exactly?"

"Trust me man, last night's performance and today's theatrics are just parlor tricks compared to some of the other stuff he can do." Tommy muttered from the back, a sly smirk coming onto his face as he spoke.

Blushing a little at his words, Billy quickly turned to face his sibling. "Tommy! Now's not the time for that!"

"What? I'm just tellin' the truth. No need to get defensive." He snarled, annoyance once again rising to the surface.

"Says the guy who can blow things up with his bare hands!" Billy quickly retorted.

Teddy turned nearly fully around, eyes wide in shock as he couldn't help but express his horror at the thought. "What?!?"

"Well not my _bare_ hands but--!" Tommy's attempt was met with confusion, causing the white blonde to glare at his sibling. "Dammit Billy!"

Billy just smiled deviously, apparently pleased with his triumph. "Serves you right."

Teddy was grateful that they were at a red light, glancing anxiously from one brother to the other. "Should I be worried?"

"I'm not going to suddenly implode if that's what you mean. And I'm not going to blow anything up either." Tommy snarled in his annoyance, laying back down on the backseat, his hands behind his head.

"I'm serious. Should I be concerned right now?" Teddy asked, his blue eyes pleading for an honest answer. The fact he had a walking time bomb in his car wasn't one of the best things to inform him of at this point.

His smile now a grin of amusement, Billy just shook his head. "Not really."

Tommy scoffed from the back. "That's not very reassuring you know."

"Just shut up Tommy. We're almost there right?"

Teddy nodded, a little more at ease now that the moment had passed. "Another block at least. I'm just glad that the traffic's so light right now."

"Is anyone at the apartment right now?"

"Not really, just a cruiser that stops by to make sure that no one breaks in again. But don't worry about them. I'll get you in no problem."

"That's good to know." Tommy muttered again from the backseat.

"Shut up Tommy." Teddy and Billy said in unison before they realized they had. Billy blinked in surprise while Teddy just avoided eye contact.

Turning out of the way of other cars, Teddy was able to quickly find a suitable parking space not too far from Dr. Lang's apartment. Shutting the car down and getting out, the twins followed him up the steps and through the doors. The blonde cop waved at a police cruiser sitting across the street, leading the twins into the building as one of the cops waved back. Once through the doors, their eyes met a well-kept front hallway, a small table seated to the side with a small vase housing a small bouquet of lilies. Not too far off were the doorways leading into the living room on the left while the right branched off to what was likely the study. A few feet away from them was a staircase leading up and beyond into the apartment. Looking around, Tommy let out a small whistle.

"Nice digs. I always knew that old man had good taste but damn!"

"Shut up Tommy. I need to concentrate." Billy snapped, easily maneuvering past both of them as he stood in the middle of the hall, apparently letting his mind wander into a different world than theirs.

Teddy couldn't help but lean over and whisper near Tommy's ear, eying the man's dark haired twin in confusion. "What's he doing?"

Annoyed light blue eyes glared at him, but he kept his voice oddly calm. "What you and your partner interrupted last night. Just watch and learn okay?"

Teddy quickly clamped his mouth shut, watching with curiosity as Billy slowly stepped forward, his hands outstretched in front of him. As if on cue, both his hands and eyes began to glow bright neon blue, the light seeming to fan over everything in his path, revealing things invisible to the naked eye. Like they'd been turned on somehow, footprints were suddenly plain to see on the floor. The sight of them made Teddy's eyebrows rise in surprise, even though Tommy didn't do or say anything in response. Instead the white blonde simply watched on in complete silence, staying in place as his sibling slowly moved down the hall and into the study, and where Dr. Lang had been murdered.

"Over here?" Billy inquired, turning his glowing eyes on Teddy as both he and Tommy followed him into the room.

A little unnerved by the sight but quickly overcoming it, Teddy nodded, keeping his face set and devoid of the growing curiosity in his gut. "Yeah, that cabinet and the desk too. All of them covered in unknown prints."

Nodding, Billy turned away as he moved towards the desk first. "On it."

The desk was done in minutes, the glow of Billy's hands and eyes fading as he stared down at the large piece of furniture in confusion. Before Teddy could stop himself, the question on his tongue came out. "Anything?"

Billy nodded absently, moving away from the desk as his eyes continued to wander the room. "Plenty. The guy from the apartment was in here, but he wasn't alone."

Teddy felt his serious mask fall to bewilderment. The fact he was learning of this now was mind-blowing. "What? There was another guy in here? That's impossible. I would've smelled him, or at least found some trace of him. For that to even happen he'd have to be--."

Brown eyes met blue, silencing Teddy with a mere glance, the man's voice somehow gaining a powerful edge. "Different? Or at least extremely careful from what I've been able to see. Whoever he is, he must know a lot about forensic science to erase himself, or at least enough to never leave a trace to begin with. And you said that no one knows about what you can do?"

"No one. You guys would be the first. I haven't even told Greg! For him to know would be impossible." Teddy couldn't honestly believe that Billy would ask such a question since he'd long since stated this information already. Was it possible someone had found out about him somehow? Already his mind was bringing back all the memories, all the steps, how cautious he'd been ever since day one.

Billy's voice was thankfully strong enough to break this stream of thought. "Either someone knows about you, or was careful enough to avoid meeting up with someone like you."

"How is that possible? Are there… are there really more out there like me?" he had to ask, the thought of having more to go on somehow seeming more promising than he'd ever thought it would be.

The raven haired man just shook his head, rubbing his chin in thought. "I'm not sure but if there are, they're working pretty hard to keep themselves out of sight. But that doesn't matter right now. What matters is that someone knew that you, or someone like you, was on the police force and knew you could trace him. Finding him is now the key to solving this case."

Teddy forced his mind to clear, his expression turning grim again. "Can you sense him anywhere? Even someone like him can't erase everything."

"That's true and you're right. I'm picking up something but I'm not sure if it's enough to say for sure that we'll find him." He said, looking truly apologetic.

But Teddy was shaking his head. "I'll take whatever you can give me. Search the whole house if you have to. We need to know who else was in this house."

"This won't be easy but I can try. This guy was smart enough to leave nothing physical behind. It's possible he wasn't as careful when it came to the metaphysical."

Tommy finally asked, having watched the entire exchange with unnatural patience on his part. "Any chance you could give me somethin' to work with?"

"Be patient Tommy. There might be less here than you think. Hell we might not even get a name, or even a face to go with it."

The white blonde just rolled his eyes, clearly annoyed but somehow knew better than to say anything to taunting. "Fine, fine. Let's just get this over with."

Wordlessly Billy continued to search the room, prints coming to life on just about everything around where his hands set their glow. Teddy couldn't help but watch the man move slowly through the room, absolutely fascinated by this intriguing process being performed right before his eyes. Tommy, however, looked bored out of his mind and simply wandered back into the hallway, somehow careful to be quiet as he went. After several minutes of silence and Billy's searching the room for anything useful, the dark haired man finally dropped his hands to his sides, the blue glow that once surrounded them disappearing. He turned to the blonde, his expression clouded, avoiding the cop's gaze as he bit his lip. Almost as if he was anxious about something.

"What's wrong?" Teddy asked almost immediately. Now wasn't a good time to leave him in the dark.

Billy eyed the corner where the cabinet stood, almost unsure of what to say. "I might've found a profile, but I'm not sure if it's enough to help identify them."

"You did your best. I get that, so don't go beating yourself up over this." Billy nodded, barely managing a thankful smile before the blonde continued. "Is there enough in here that can help you at least sense the guy? Or even a scent I could use?"

The raven haired man's face twisted in thought, looking fairly doubtful. "Maybe. But it's barely here! It's so spread out and thin that I'm surprised I even sensed it at all!"

"Just a little bit is enough. Any clue to who shot Dr. Lang might bring us one step closer to helping Cassie feel better. And I want to catch this guy before he strikes again."

Billy nodded, his face softening at the mention of Cassie. He could only imagine the kind of pain she was going through. Turning to stare back at a corner of the room, he pointed out the metal filing cabinet. "There. Other than Dr. Lang's prints, I'm sure there's another set that doesn't belong there. One's I'm sure you said that your guys didn't find the first time around."

The blonde cop nodded in his understanding. "Right. Got take five okay?"

"Sure."

Teddy eyed the dark haired man as he left. A pang of guilt hit him dead center at how tired he looked, but he knew it was likely a price he was paying for using his powers so soon after only resting for about an hour. He'd order them to go home and get some real rest before it got too dark outside. But first things first. Expertly pulling out a pair of elastic gloves from one of his pockets, Teddy quickly put them on as he approached the filing cabinet. He couldn't help but eye it in suspicion. The killer might have left a little 'gift' in one of the drawers for all he knew. Thankfully his new partners were in the hallway, and far away enough to avoid anything that might otherwise harm them. The last thing he wanted was the deaths of two innocent civilians on his mind. Switching his vision, the glow of the prints came into view once again, allowing him to zone in on what his main focus should be. He'd been right. The prints on the handle to the top drawer didn't match Dr. Lang or Cassie. The killer, or possibly the accomplice, had been a little to specific in his search.

Careful not to smudge the prints already present, with thoughts to order whoever worked the scene to be evaluated, Teddy got the drawer open with ease. So far, so good. His ears barely registered the twins striking up a soft conversation back in the main hallway. But what they were talking about didn't matter to him right now. What mattered was right in front of him. Blue eyes staring down at the many files, all placed in order in a fashion that just screamed 'obsessive compulsive, Teddy scanned the tabs for what may or may not still be there. After just a few seconds of swift skimming, it was apparent that a rather large section of the files were missing, their lost presence creating a rather obvious gap. Furrowing his brow at this newfound oddity, the blonde cop carefully used a finger to look down into the darkness of the gap in case something was left behind. So far, nothing had been forgotten by the intruder. Muttering a curse under his breath, Teddy resolved himself to shutting the drawer before heading back into the hall.

He found both men lounging on the stairs, Tommy lying back while Billy just sat anxiously working his hands. Seeing the blonde appear from the next room, he was immediately on his feet, watching the man expectantly. "Anything?"

Teddy nodded, stripping his hands of their plastic protection as he spoke. "Yeah. I may have to ask Cassie about what might've been taken. Someone wanted those files enough to kill an innocent man over them. Whatever those files are, they're probably pretty damn important."

"What else was in there?" Tommy muttered, his voice showing his slight interest in the conversation at hand.

"Not much. They looked like student files to me but I could be wrong. Those names could be some clients he had for all I know." The blonde cop growled, stuffing the spent gloves into one of his jacket pockets. It would've been irresponsible to contaminate a scene by tossing them in the closest garbage bin.

Billy moved off the steps, biting his bottom a little as he pondered his next question. "Did you recognize any of the names or words? You might've come across something I didn't."

The blonde just shook his head, trying to rack his brain for any possible answers about the files still in the cabinet. "We already checked the university. None of those names looked like they belonged to students. I could be wrong though."

"So what now?" Tommy growled. It was obvious now he was tired of waiting around. He needed some action and soon.

"You guys see if you can't track that profile while I ask around about what could be in that drawer. Cassie or some of his coworkers might know something about those names." Teddy suddenly stopped, turning his head like a dog's, turning his gaze up the stairs. This sparked concern into the twins as they moved to be in front of him again, eyeing the landing above.

"What is it?" Billy asked, careful to whisper in case the person above was eavesdropping.

Teddy didn't take his eyes off the top of the stairs, listening hard with both ears. "I thought I heard something."

"Any chance he owned a cat?" Tommy inquired, his impatience still present in his voice.

He only shook his head, blue eyes watching the shadows carefully. "No way. There'd be signs and I'd have smelled it by now. And Cassie said he was never much for pets anyway."

This immediately put Billy on edge, his voice quick and quiet. "What do we do?"

"You two go back out to the car. I'm gonna check this out." Teddy said, already moving to step up onto the staircase.

Only Billy grabbed his arm, effectively stopping him and making him turn around to face the two. "What? No way! You--!"

"I'm the one with the badge and gun. You two are civilians." Teddy said quickly, glancing back upstairs again. Their exchange could be giving the intruder more time to get away or mess with something. That was something he just couldn't let happen.

Tommy was rolling his eyes, sending his annoyed glare into the side of the blonde's head. "With powers in case you forgot. We can help."

"We don't know who that is! If we just burst in, powers or not, that's gonna cause problems. Do you really want to others to know what you can do?" Teddy asked, his face set in a grim and authoritative expression.

"No but--!"

Teddy cut Billy off with a wave of his hand, his blue eyes staring them both down in a fashion he'd hoped not to use. "Then either wait here, or go back out to the car. I'll be damned if you two get hurt because I was careless."

"I'm not going anywhere." Tommy said, strengthening his glare to make his point.

Billy didn't hesitate to nod his own agreement to this course of action. "Fine by me. I just don't want to get shot at."

After a moment, Teddy finally let out a sigh. Just having this conversation had made him tired all over again. "Stay here then. I won't be long."

Billy nodded, his face grim and his jaw set. For once, Tommy looked a little worried but said nothing as they watched Teddy ease his way up the stairs. Despite his size, the blonde cop knew how to be quiet on wooden stairs. Coming onto the landing above, Teddy paused, letting his senses tell him what he needed. From what he could tell, the person didn't smell all that familiar, which meant the person was likely to be an intruder. They were light-footed so either this person was very light in weight, or just happened to be a woman. And he had a thing about pulling a weapon on women. Only unless they had a weapon of their own and was likely to endanger themselves or others, he'd easily point his own gun at them. Otherwise, politeness came first. Looking around, all the doors on the floor were closed. All except one, which was open only by a crack, given away by the thin column of light streaking across the floor. Sounds of movement confirmed this hint as his ears picked up the intruder moving about in the room beyond. Mentally prepared for the worst, Teddy pulled his gun out of the holster, and slowly approached the door.

Man that took forever. But the much awaited installment to '_Connected_' is finally done and ready for all to see. Thanks again guys. Your attention to this fic means a lot to me. And try to actually review this time around? It's seriously not that hard. Anyhow, best to move on to more important business. Here's what's to come:

Next chapter:

Chapter 4: Calling Card

Another clue has been discovered concerning Dr. Lang's murder, and now someone's snooping where they should be. Just who is it and what are they looking for? Are they friend or foe? To top it all, Teddy has some issues to sort out with Greg. But what is Greg doing? Can he really be trusted with all this? Find out when 'Connected' returns with an all new chapter and an all new thrill with:

_**Chapter 4: Calling Card!!**_


	4. Chapter 4: Calling Card

Hi and welcome back to my ever popular story '_Connected_'. I'm glad you could show up to read this since everyone's been so nice to do so thus far. This story's proving to be a hell of a challenge on my brain, but I can only hope that you guys are enjoying it as much as I like to write it all down. Enough of my ongoing ramblings huh? On to more important business then. I don't own '_Young Avengers_' in any shape or form but I do plan on getting all the comics as soon as I'm able. Enjoy!!

"Iii" = speech

"_Iii_" = telephone speech

_Iii_ = thought

Chapter 4: Calling Card

Walking slowly, tense with his .9mm gun in hand, Teddy did his best to keep his breathing under control. The person inside the room could easily be the killer for all he knew, and he didn't want to take any chances at them getting away. From what he knew of the layout, there wasn't a fire escape on the side of the building beyond the door so those jumping out the window meant instant death. Listening into the silence, Teddy could easily hear the person's heartbeat from beyond the wooden barrier separating them. But as he listened, something else seemed to come to his attention. Not one heartbeat, but two. Confused, Teddy took another sniff at the air to be sure. As he predicted, other than his own and the twins, the only person in the home was the one moving around in the room in front of him. Determined to know just who the hell was poking around without police authorization, the blonde cop slowly eased the door open with his left hand as he held his gun in his right.

He spotted the person easily, standing with their back turned to the door in front of what looked like a bed stand. With no hesitation, Teddy raised his gun at the person and called out as calmly as his voice would allow. "Police! Turn around slowly!"

The person turned, revealing it was a woman. A woman he'd hoped that he wouldn't see for a while. Jessica Jones, dressed elegantly in black with a brown overcoat, stared at him with wide brown eyes, her dark brown hair coming over one of her shoulders. Upon seeing who it was, she nearly slumped against the wooden piece of furniture behind her. "Oh god. You scared me!"

"Jessica! What the hell are you doing?" he demanded, lowering his gun before safely putting it back in his holster. The reporter straightened and simply stared at him.

"What does it look like? Getting a good story for the paper. What else?"

"You're six months pregnant! You should be behind a desk!" he growled in pure felt frustration. Did this woman honestly have no common sense? He could've shot her if she'd been resistant to his command. Without even waiting on her, he closed the space between them in less than two strides as he took her by the arm and lead her to the door. "You're going home right this minute."

"What? You can't--!" she began as she tried to fight her way out of his grip.

At the top of the stairs, he stopped and looked her right in the eyes. "Unless you want me to call your boyfriend and tell him that you were here, likely putting you and your baby in danger, I suggest you listen to what I'm telling you."

"Any chance I could get a statement then?" she inquired as they continued their journey, their pace slightly slower as they went down the stairs.

Teddy was only half listening, searching for the twins at the end of the stair with his eyes only to find them gone. If this surprised him, he knew better than to show it as he finally responded to Jessica's question. "Hell. No. I'm calling you a cab and you're going either home or back to work. If one of those two phones aren't answered and you're not on the other end, I'll put you under house arrest."

Jessica gasped in indignation, finally pulling her arm out of his vice like grip once they reached the bottom of the stairs, making him look at her. "What? You aren't seriously--!"

"Ms. Jones. Please listen to me. I'm trying to do my job and catch a killer. You are supposed to be resting while preparing for your new baby. I'll be damned to hell if you get involved in this and have some sort of complication." He said, his stern tone effectively silencing her as she stubbornly crossing her arms over her chest. "Now, we're going to go outside. And you're going to wait with the officers outside until your cab arrives. Understand?"

"Yes." She muttered under her breath, looking purely annoyed with him.

Satisfied with this response, Teddy nodded as he opened the front door and made way for her like the gentleman that he was. "Good. After you."

Teddy was back inside under eight minutes, shutting the front door behind him to find the twins had reappeared. Blinking in his surprise, the question was on the tip of his tongue until Tommy decided to speak first.

"Who was that?"

He couldn't hold back a groan, rubbing his temples in an attempt to alleviate the pain his brain was giving him. "Jessica Jones, reporter extraordinaire and a complete pain when she's places she doesn't belong. The fact that she's also pregnant only gives someone like me an even bigger headache."

"And she isn't married yet? Bummer." The white blonde muttered absently, Billy just rolling his eyes at his brother's reaction.

Teddy just shook his head. "It's something they never actually discussed but—where did you two go?"

"The next room? Dude, hiding isn't as hard as you think." Tommy muttered in an annoyed snarl while Billy just rolled his eyes. He obviously wasn't about to get in the middle.

"Right… I definitely need to get some sleep." He growled but straightened as he faced the two before him. Now wasn't the time to be dozing off. "Okay, Billy? You see if you can't track that profile you sensed earlier. It could lead us somewhere. Tommy? The twenty-four hour holding time is almost up so you can keep an eye on him, see what he does."

Pale blue eyes narrowed, staring down sky blue as if in challenge. "And you? What'll you be doing?"

Teddy's face stiffened into a grim expression, his tone showing how serious he was. "I need to get back to the office and research those names, make some calls about what those files are for. Someone wanted them enough to kill their owner. That smells pretty fishy to me."

"I'll see what I can do. There's still enough of the profile here to know he's been here and tell him apart from others around him. It'll take time but I think I can do it."

"Tommy?"

A bored expression had come onto his face, his tone mirroring his face. "The guy from last night right? I can handle him. If you need him back, just call."

In a flash the white blonde was gone, leaving Teddy feeling stupid for looking around in confusion while Billy remained cool in the presence of his brother's vanishing act. Calmly, the raven haired man pulled out his cell phone, instantly scrolling through the menus. "I have his cell phone number. And I'll get yours for when I get anything."

"Sounds good." Teddy said with a nod, managing to pull out one of his many pens and an extra piece of note paper before forking them over to the man. Silently watching him, Teddy finally thought of a fairly reasonable question. "Do you need a ride?"

Looking up from his task, Billy just smiled as he shook his head, returning the pen and paper to the blonde. "Nah. I'll do fine by myself. Sometimes Tommy isn't the only one who doesn't need a car."

Teddy found it hard to hide his confusion but decided it was best to leave question like that for later. "Fair enough. See you later?"

Billy nodded, the smile still in place, brown eyes of hazel watching the blonde in a way that made him think there was more behind it. "Yeah."

Without another word Teddy was back outside and on his way to his car. Looking across the street, he saw the cop opening a taxi cab door for Jessica, ignoring her irritated glare as he watched her get in. Shutting the door behind her and going to the front window to talk to the driver, the cop backed away as the car began to drive off. Watching it go, Teddy couldn't help but smirk as the stubborn brunette refused to look back at him as the car vanished down the street. He knew quite well she'd get over her anger at him. Mood swings and all. Hopefully for the last time that day, Teddy made his way to his car, getting inside as he fired it up. Despite his abilities, the chill of the day was getting stronger, and it was sending him into a shiver spell. In minutes he was on the road and in traffic, making his way back to his precinct where he was sure his partner was fuming his head off. Not like that was anything new to him.

Getting back into his office proved a breeze as he sat at his desk for the first time since early that morning. Luckily the Chinese takeout boxes were no longer present. Even before they started to go bad, Teddy was sure he'd smell them the whole time. The last time such a thing had occurred, he'd been unable to smell much else for the rest of the day. And it was an experience he didn't want to repeat. Shedding his jacket to cover the backside of his chair with it, Teddy didn't hesitate to sit down, flopped his arms down on the desktop, and let his head create a fairly loud thump as it came in contact with a pile of papers. The feel of it made him wince but he didn't really care. He was tired, the case was crawling along and it was a wonder he hadn't just passed out from the fatigue. Even the urge to just outright sucker punch Greg if he tried to give him any lip was starting to kick in. Teddy wasn't normally a violent person, and only used such emotions when they were needed. Right now, he didn't know anymore. All he knew was that he needed to sleep. Bad.

"Teddy."

He didn't move. The voice of whoever it was could wait. Whatever they wanted, they could stick it up their asses for all he cared. He just wanted to get some shuteye for heaven's sake. Was that seriously so hard to ask for?

"Teddy!" the voice persisted, a little louder now and closer to his ear. A fact he really wanted to ignore. Just the thought of someone, anyone to be honest, wanting something from him at this point was enough to get his head hurting again. The thought of moving from where he was positioned seemed like an unlikely thing for him to do now that he was so comfortable.

"DETECTIVE ALTMAN!!" the voice suddenly yelled, loud and masculine. Loud enough to make Teddy jump in his surprise, causing him to sit right up in his chair, his blue eyes wide open and seeing everything in fast-forward. Blinking the sleep out of his eyes and biting down the urge to mutter curses under his breath, Teddy looked to his immediate left where the voice had come from. What he found made him want to hide under his desk until his shift was over: police captain Steve Rogers, blonde hair muddled out by the darkness of the office room, his blue eyes staring at him with amused eyes.

Wide eyed and appalled at himself for ignoring his superior, Teddy almost fell out of his chair in surprise but managed to get his footing in time to stand up proper. He only hoped he hadn't drooled or anything. "C-Captain! Oh god I'm so sorry I--!"

But the older blonde just waved his words away with a hand and an amused chuckle as his eyes stared at him with understanding. "Save it Altman. I already heard from your partner how you've been driving yourself too hard. Needless to say he's concerned and now so am I."

"Sir?" Teddy said dumbly, now wondering if his ears were playing tricks on him. Was this man seriously suggesting what he thought he was suggesting?

Captain Rogers just let out another hearty chuckle. Teddy could only blink as the man before him just patted him on the shoulder. "Go home detective. Get some sleep and come back tomorrow if you're up to it. I've been told you've gotten some outside help on this case?"

The words brought Teddy out of his daze quickly enough for his brain to form a response to the inquiry. "Uh… yeah. I've had time to check them out. They seem reliable to me sir."

Blue eyes studied Teddy's face carefully, so much so he wanted to hide under his desk for the rest of the week. Thankfully the captain simply smiled again, nodded as if in approval of his decision. "Fair enough. You've always been a good judge of character Teddy. If you say they're trustworthy then I believe. Until then, I want you home and in bed. I can't have one of my best detectives blacking out in the middle of work."

"That's putting it kinda harshly isn't it sir?" Teddy asked, chuckling nervously as his face finally cracked into an equally nervous smile. He'd heard that his captain was a down-to-earth kind of guy, but he definitely hadn't expected this.

The man in question just let out another laugh, his blue eyes twinkling in an almost mischievous fashion. "I'm just putting it how I see it. Now go home, that's an order."

Teddy couldn't help but let the nervous smile become a relieve grin as the older man moved to walk away. "Y-yes sir. Good night sir."

"Good night Altman." He heard the man call from afar as he vanished down one of the halls and off into the night. Leaving Teddy once again by himself in a sea of desks, one or two occupied by early night shift workers.

_Well that was close._ He thought as he sat back down and leaned back in his chair. A sigh of relief served as yet another factor in relaxing his now stiff muscles. Now that he thought about it, drifting off like he had was a pretty stupid thing to do. Rising to his feet again and grabbing his jacket, he absently pulled out his cell phone, flipping it open to check for anything that he might've missed while he was 'napping'. So far only two missed calls. One from Jessica, likely from someplace other than work or home and the other….

_Unknown caller? That's odd. Was it Tommy? Or was it Billy? Just who the hell tried to call me?_ He pondered as he scrolled through his message box, activating the unknown caller's message as he put the device to his ear. He ignored the mechanical voice telling him which message he was about to listen to, waiting patiently for whatever person's voice had attempted to contact him. After a few seconds, the mechanical voice stopped talking, and someone else's spoke up.

"_You fuckin' ass!_" he knew the voice, and that attitude, anywhere. It was Tommy. And he was clearly upset with him now. Big surprise. Shrugging off the harshness of the man's voice, Teddy just listened to the rest of the message, the man on the other end clearly snarling in his anger at him. "_Pick up your fuckin' phone fuck dammit! What the hell are you doin' anyway? On a fuckin' date? Call me back you stupid dog or your ass is gonna feel the worst wedgie any human alive has ever experienced!_"

_Did he just threaten me with a wedgie?_ Confused by this odd threat but seeing no other reason not to call the speedster, Teddy ended the message and began entering the number as Tommy's. With that complete before he forgot, the blonde cop did as he was 'instructed' and waited for the call to go through. After possibly two or three rings, the buzz of the ring cut off and Tommy's clearly angry voice came over the line.

"_What the fuckin' hell took you so long?!? I called you nearly twenty minutes ago!_" the man snarled from the other end. Teddy just raised a brow at his sinister tone.

"I was busy. Did you find something?"

If Tommy rolled his eyes at this question, Teddy didn't need to see if he did. "Damn right I found something you prick!" he snapped in frustration. "Your guy was just a goon."

This sent Teddy a little off balance. He'd suspected but didn't think it was true up until now. "What?"

"_Are you deaf? He's a fuckin' goon! And so was the guy who shot Lang! They were paid to raid his house and get those files. They just didn't expect him to be home._" Tommy growled angrily, a noise sounding off that prompted another, one that Teddy almost didn't catch. From what he could tell, it sounded like a whimper.

"How do you know this?" Teddy asked cautiously. He could already tell that Tommy wasn't in the mood and had likely done something. Something he didn't really want to think about.

From the other end of the phone line, Tommy just scoffed at the question. Either he was seriously bored now or he was just annoyed with him for taking so long to call him. "_He tried to run but I caught him. And then I tried to call you but since you're such a lazy son of a bitch, I took the initiative._"

Teddy had to turn away from an oncoming coworker and a few occupied desks to hide his that showed his clearly stated horror. "Please tell me you didn't do anything drastic!"

Once again Tommy scoffed as if insulted by the man's words. "_I didn't hit him with a crowbar if that's what you mean. Since I couldn't find one, I just used a bat I found in his place. Too dumb to get a gun but smart enough to keep a blunt object lying around. These guys get dumber every time._"

"Tommy--!" he began in a harsh whisper.

"_What? I'm not gonna kill him it that's what you're gonna ask. This guy's too much of a wuss to kill. And I ain't in that kind of industry._"

Teddy held back a groan. And he was so close to being able to go home for the night too. "Tommy! Where are you?"

For once the man on the other end didn't argue. "_I'm in his apartment. And I'm tellin' ya, this place smells weird when you've been here long enough._"

Teddy took a quick look at his watch, noting the time before speaking again. "J-just give me a half hour to get over there. The last thing you want is some guy putting you in jail because you were being 'persuasive'."

He heard the white blonde scoff again. It was hard to tell if the man made such a noise on purpose or not but right now he didn't care as Tommy went on talking. "_I haven't used the bat on him yet. Well, to knock him out maybe, but still. I know a thing or two about restraint okay?_"

Teddy finally let out the tired sigh he'd been holding back. He really, really wanted to go home and go to bed. And the urge to keep going wasn't helping. Finally Teddy gave in to his still running drive for the truth. "Whatever just… just please don't do anything else until I get there. Did you call Billy yet?"

The white blonde only grunted from the other end, suddenly sounding extremely bored at this point. "_Nah. He needs to concentrate pretty hard when he's scrying for people. Calling him would likely interrupt the process._"

"Scry? He scrys?" Teddy couldn't help but ask. The thought of it meant a crystal ball in a dark room that smelled weird. And from what he knew, Billy didn't have one of those.

"_That's how we found this bozo. He looked for him. In a pretty freaky way._" Tommy muttered absently, a sound in the background making him suspect that the man on the other end was officially bored. As proven by his rather emotionless tone with the next sentence, almost droll compared to his earlier stage of rage. "_Just get over here will you? This guy's on edge of wiggin' out._"

"Fine. Stay put! I'm on my way."

Snapping his phone shut as he stuffed it into his pocket, Teddy struggled to get his jacket on as he headed for the front doors and his car. He just hoped that in the time it took him to get there, Tommy would try to do anything stupid.

Tapping his gloved hands against his steering wheel out of slight boredom, sharp eyes watched the front of the precinct. Such strong sighted eyes were only set on seeing one person, a person who'd yet to appear. Calling his partner was beyond him since the man wasn't answering and probably wouldn't even if he could. Which meant something was wrong. Now, no thanks to his partner's blundering, he was being forced to try and tie loose ends before their boss got too angry with them. It was bad enough the guy was holding out on their pay as it was. He'd be damned to hell and back for not getting some cold hard cash in his pocket because his comrade was too stupid to leave his own place like he was supposed to. If things didn't go well tonight, he'd probably have to kill that annoying prick of a partner. Until then, all he could do was wait for the cop to show up.

_Speak of the devil._ He thought as the very person he'd been waiting for came through the double doors. Even from afar, his blonde hair gave him away like a shocking dot of color on a dark canvas covered in muted colors. Watching as he hurriedly crossed the street to his car, the man gripped his steering wheel with one hand as he used the other to start his own car. This was what he'd been waiting almost two hours for. Now all the idiot had to do was lead the way to wherever he was going. When he got the chance, he'd do the rest.

--_**With Billy**_—

The raven haired man couldn't help but yawn in his exhaustion. It'd only been a few hours and already he could tell he was getting nowhere. Whoever had been in Dr. Lang's office knew how to mask everything, down to their aura. And it was giving him a hell of a time to so much as track him with just a speck of it to work with. Tommy would likely be irritated with him but Teddy? Who knew how the blonde would react to his failure. He certainly didn't. The blonde cop seemed like a pretty kind person, but was likely hiding a nasty temper somehow.

_No don't think like that. If he's like that he'd have shown it by now. Especially since Tommy attacked him. Getting him back for it would've been the first thing on his mind. He'll probably just be disappointed._ Billy thought absently as he sat down on the edge of the building's roof, closing his eyes as cool wind whipped through his hair. He'd left Dr. Lang's apartment hours ago to do his scrying. Just being somewhat above everything else seemed to give him the feeling he needed to perform such a thing. He was able to it indoors but he felt better when he had a more 3D map to work with. That and it was easier to travel between points when he found what he was looking for. An especially strong breeze brought him out of his thoughts, making him shiver and cross his arms against the cold. He had a coat on, but even then the chill of the early evening was starting to make him wish he was indoors. Looking over the city as the sky became darker and the lights started to come on, Billy knew that Teddy's suspect had been released by now and they were running low on time.

_One more try. Just one more try. You can do this._ Giving himself a rather hearty shake as he stood back up, Billy's brown eyes overlooked the city once more. Within seconds the energy was flowing through him that was all too familiar to him. Like an invisible net that only he could see, he spread it far and wide, going in grids so as to keep his energy usage simple but effective in his quest for the mystery man. Eyes glowing bright blue as he stretched his power as far as it could go, it wasn't long before he realized that either the man wasn't in the city anymore, was on the move and he couldn't pinpoint him, or he was somehow masking himself from his scans. But Billy wasn't about to give up. Not if it meant bringing a killer to justice.

A few minutes or a few hours he didn't know, but as he passed from one grid to the next, something made him perk up. Confused by this sudden change, he concentrated on the section of the city in question. The last thing he wanted was to be wrong. When seconds became minutes, Billy felt himself start to sweat a little. Mostly because the cool wind was hitting his face just right, making the sweat on his face cool, making him shiver from the feel of it. But he forced himself to focus. He'd worked too hard to give up now. After a few more seconds of heavy concentration Billy knew he was on the mark. It was the man they were looking for and he was on the move. And from his positioning and the speed at which he was going, it was safe to assume he was in a car. But as he focused a little more, something caught his attention: there was another familiar signature some ways ahead of the man. Billy's blood froze in his veins. The man was following Teddy. But to where?

Just as he tried to focus on the area in question, something in the back of his mind twitched to life, instantly making him lose focus. Next thing he knew he was in the cold and dark street, surrounded by strangers. All of them blurred when he wasn't looking right at them, Billy knew exactly where he was now. He was having a vision of some sort, one that usually popped up when he was busy doing something else. Sometimes they were so strong that he passed out from the power behind it. The last time that happened, Tommy had acted like he'd died on him. Hell the man wouldn't let Billy be by himself for more than a few minutes he was so worried that it'd happen again. After a few months Tommy had lightened up but even now he was wary of him just up and falling over when they hit. But it was happening now, and Tommy wasn't there to worry. All he could do now was focus on what he was being shown. Looking around, Billy quickly took in the details of the scene.

It was obviously night from the look of the sky and the dim lighting brought by the street lamps to either side. If anyone noticed him, they didn't show it, they simply stared on at something beyond even his line of sight. Curious, Billy had to almost literally shove his way through the crowd in order to reach the edge. As he did, he noticed something out of place between a pair of people ahead of him. They were standing a few inches away from something thin, and bright yellow. He recognized it immediately. Police crime scene tape, the telltale thin plastic barrier between the living and the dead, that all were taught to notice and respect as soon as they knew how. Instantly dreading what he was about to see, Billy decided to move forward anyway. The vision would likely follow him like a shadow until he saw it to the end. And that was something he didn't want to experience right now. So instead, he took a shuddering breath and made his way past the last line of people and under the crime scene tape. He was instantly met with the blurry figures of cops, paramedics and crime scene investigators. All signs that whatever went down went down pretty fast.

He knew they couldn't see him, so he moved past them with ease. Usually he could hear what they were saying loud and clear, but right now their speech was muffled. Almost like a radio station being blocked out by static. This alone alarmed him further. He'd come across visions that lacked proper sound, but none had been at a crime scene. Immediately he knew something was wrong. Passing the people and their vehicles, Billy swiftly walked to the very middle of the sectioned off part of the street. His blood turned ice cold at what he saw: Teddy's car, or what looked like his car, stood with one tire over the curb and onto the sidewalk. The front bumper having smashed into a lamp post was scrunched in an almost cruel manner, the engine smoking from under the bent hood. And from what he could tell from his angle, the front driver's side door was open, with the driver still sitting at the wheel.

_Oh god. Oh dear please god don't let it be--._ The thought couldn't even finish being brought together in his head as he quickly ran around the back of the car to where the driver's door hung open, where he immediately leaned inside. There was a person there alright. And it wasn't pretty. Blood had been splattered all over the passenger's seat and the windshield, the red river of life having streaked and dried over what little time it'd taken emergency response to arrive on scene. The inside was exactly as Billy remembered it to be, all the way down to the buttons on the radio. Only one thing was different, and that was Teddy, still seated in the driver's seat. Except he was slumped over to the side, motionless and seemingly lifeless, despite all the lively activity going on around the car itself. Billy didn't want to know but it was likely that he was wrong. The man in the driver's seat had his head hidden by shadow, and the jacket was different. For all he knew it was just some guy who looked like Teddy but wasn't. And there was only one way he could find out. Taking another deep breath that did little to calm his nerves, Billy reached forward and took hold of the shoulder awkwardly pointing upward. As expected, the corpse, through the cloth of the jacket, was cold under his hand. What wasn't expected was how easily the form willingly moved, allowing Billy's hands to make it change positions.

When the face finally came into view, the raven haired man instantly regretted it: it really was Teddy, in the dead flesh. His blonde hair still held some of its alluring luster, his skin having also lost its healthy coloring for the paleness that came with the passing of the life. The once sky blue eyes that Billy wanted to stare into until he couldn't see them anymore had also lost their coloring, having become clouded and unfocused, blind to everything. The sight was so shocking that Billy couldn't bring himself to move, his hands dropping to his sides as he stared, wide eyed as the dead man remained slumped in the very spot where he'd died. And the reason for his death was obvious: a bullet hole, the size of a nickel and slathered in blood, was the only blemish on Teddy's head that he could see, spreading blood across the seat, the windshield and his face. Just seeing it made Billy want to be sick, to just fall over and not get up again. What he was seeing just couldn't be real. It couldn't be. This man was alive not even an hour earlier but now? It just wasn't possible. What he was seeing was a lie.

But even as he thought this, the vision remained steady and clear, the dried blood by now a dark red against Teddy's pale, dead flesh. After a few more moments of staring at the man's obviously very deceased form, Billy finally had the nerve to look away, his stomach doing flip-flops in his gut. Even the after image of Teddy's dead body was making his dinner try to jump back up his throat. He just hoped it would be enough to get him back to reality. But as he turned away from the man's corpse, a cold grip came over his arm, making him pause to where he almost forgot to breath. Looking down, holding his right elbow was Teddy's pale hand, his grip gentle but strong despite his obvious state of self. Reluctantly following the arm back towards Teddy's main form, what he saw made him gasp involuntarily. Sky blue eyes, bright as a summer's day, stared back at him, gentle and kind like before. Only this was short-lived as Teddy's face twisted slightly, as if pained by something. Billy could only stare in his shock as the blonde seemed to contemplate what to do, much less what to say.

Finally, his jaw worked, his mouth opening to free one word from his pale lips. "Clubs."

For the first time, Billy blinked in his confusion at the odd statement. "Clubs? What do you mean? Teddy? Talk to me. What do you mean by 'clubs'?"

"Clubs. Ace of clubs." The blonde stated again, this time with some urgency in his tone.

"The ace of clubs?" Billy shook his head, truly not getting what the blonde man was referring to. "What are you getting at?"

The blonde cop said nothing, his face pained and sad as he turned around. Curious despite seeing a dead man move, Billy leaned down to look also to find a blurred figure opening the passenger's side door and reaching inside with a gloved hand. Pulling away, the figure held something that Billy didn't think would even be there: a playing card, obviously covered in blood and unlikely to be used in a game ever again. But the side that they could see was what shocked Billy the most. It was the ace of clubs, the main club torn by a hole that looked fairly scorched. It was obvious now that someone had forced Teddy to crash, and during his state of vulnerability, had come over and shot Teddy. Using the card as a way of sending a message of some sort to those who found him, this killer was likely hoping to get his point across. Whatever that was. Just the thought that Teddy had been purposefully targeted nearly made Billy's knees give out on him.

In seconds the vision was gone, as was Teddy's grip and his ever-gentle sky blue eyes, the images dissipating like a fog under the sun's blaring light. No more was the brutal and bloody scene where a good cop had died for some unknown reason visible for Billy to see with horrified eyes. As soon as dead Teddy's hand wasn't there to hold him up, the raven haired man flopped onto his back onto the roof gravel, his mind buzzing from what he'd just seen. Looking up at the night sky, Billy could feel the tears coming from the corner of his eyes, the shock having sent his brain into chaos. For what felt like an hour, Billy couldn't bring himself to think of anything except Teddy's crashed car and his lifeless body sitting inside. Thought circled around in his head for a minute or so, he finally realized that this event had yet to happen, and Teddy was still on the move and very much alive. Instantly sitting up, Billy nearly tore his jacket sleeve as he desperately looked to his watch for the time.

_Oh thank god. It's only been a few minutes. That means that vision didn't last very long, which means I've still got time until that man catches up with him._ Quickly picking himself up off the ground he immediately got out his phone out of his pocket only to stare at it as if it were something else. Was calling him a good idea? Would he even get through in time? Mulling over this concept, Billy really didn't want to take any chances. Instead he stuffed the phone back into his pocket as he thought back to what his search had shown him. Quickly calming himself a bit, Billy closed his eyes, concentrating on the mystery man's last known location as he muttered what he wanted under his breath. In seconds, he was surrounded by bright blue light. The next, the rooftop was void of him being there at all.

Billy opened his eyes before he even got there, having mentally coordinated his arrival to occur in an alleyway that he was sure had no real windows or people in it. As the blue energy dissipated he was instantly on the move, walking quickly towards the street, pulling his hood over his head as he went. From the way the traffic was moving, Billy was sure that he was simply behind by half a block as he tried his best to move through the late afternoon crowds that moved at an almost tired pace. This wasn't enough to stop him as he walked as fast as he could, twisting and turning amidst the people, going left and right in order to move ahead. Most didn't notice or just didn't care, while some were either curious or slightly offended. Not that he really cared about what they thought at this point. All that mattered was making sure that his vision didn't come true, no matter what.

--_**With Teddy**_—

Traffic was moving slow and easy, something he could easily avoid with the lights and siren he'd been given by the precinct. Something he was sure Tommy would appreciate since the man didn't seem to have a shred of actual patience in his body. As he stopped right behind another car at a red light, Teddy leaned back in his seat, rubbing his eyes with a hand. All hopes of him going home and getting some decent sleep was gone now that his adrenaline was now slowly rising. It was likely that he'd need to eat something before he crashed. But first things first, he needed to see what damage Tommy had caused back at their suspect's apartment when the guy tried to skip town. He was just glad from the noises in the background that the white blonde hadn't killed the man out of boredom. Or worse. Either way, he was just content to be doing something that didn't involve anything complex at this point. Though the last thing he wanted to do was fall asleep at the wheel.

He didn't notice anyone at his window until something tapped against the glass, a dark form blocking what little light there was left in the sky. The sudden noise snapped the blonde cop out of his thoughts, making him jump before turning to see a familiar pair of brown eyes staring back at him. He nearly slumped against the steering wheel in relief as he rolled down his car window, eyeing the man with a curious look on his face.

"You really need to stop doing that. I nearly jumped out of my skin!"

Billy blinked in slight surprise, but he didn't look away in embarrassment like Teddy thought he would. Instead the man's expression hardened a little. "Sorry. I found our guy."

Glancing at the cars ahead of him, Teddy nearly twisted all the way in his seat as he stared at Billy with a surprised look on his face. "What? Why didn't you call?"

"Because I think he's trying to kill you." The raven haired man stated a bit too calmly, his voice showing how deathly serious he was.

"W-what? H-how do you--?" Teddy began to say before Billy straightened and quickly walked around the car, giving the blonde only seconds to unlock the passenger side door.

Mere seconds after getting in, Billy didn't look at the blonde as he put the seatbelt on, eying the road in front and behind them. "As soon as the light changes, drive."

"Well yeah but what--?"

The look Billy gave him quickly silenced him. He'd never seen the man next to him look so serious before. "Just drive. We need to get this guy before he hurts someone."

Teddy nodded, nervous and confused by Billy's strange behavior. Needless to say he was trying not to freak out. "Okay. But… where is he?"

"Two cars behind us." He said coolly, ignoring Teddy's look of utter shock. "He's probably been trailing you since you left the precinct."

"How do you--? No wait. Tommy called, he said that you were 'scrying' and not to call you in case you were still in the middle of it."

It was Billy's turn this time to look surprised, finally turning to meet Teddy's eyes as he spoke with curiosity in his tone. "Tommy called? When?"

"About—ten minutes ago. I was at the office and he said that he caught our suspect trying to leave town and that I should probably come over. I was on my way there now until you told me someone's gonna kill me." Teddy stated, eyeing the rear view mirror as his hands gripped the wheel despite his well hidden anxiety.

Billy ignored him for a moment, leaning a little to see past the car in front of them, speaking in the same serious tone from before. "Yeah well… that happens. Take this right and keep heading straight. We need to back this guy into a corner."

The blonde nodded at this, clearly satisfied with this course of action. "That I understand. But what I don't get is how you know that he's going to kill me. He could be just following me for all we know."

"Ah." This thought didn't occur to Billy, but that changed when his face stiffened into a rather fearful expression. "Um. I don't think now's a good time."

Confused and a little concerned at this sudden change, Teddy watched the raven haired man with cautious eyes. "What? Why?"

"Because Mystery guy's on his way. Right. Now."

"What?" he suddenly blurted, twisting in his seat to look behind them.

"Don't look!" Billy snapped, making Teddy freeze in mid turn, his blue eyes wide as he stared at the man next to him. "Do you want to tip him off?"

"How can you tell?" Teddy asked, though he felt a little stupid for having to ask such a thing. But all of this was still a little new to him.

Billy didn't move, staring forward as he tried to sit casually in his seat. He hoped to high heaven that Teddy didn't notice how his hands were shaking. "I can sense him. I haven't seen his face just yet but I can sense him. He wants to know what's going on. And I don't think he cares if anyone sees."

"Right." Teddy corrected himself and once again gripped the steering wheel, glancing at Billy with an anxious expression once again on his face. "Right turn?"

Billy didn't hesitate to nod in affirmation. "Yeah. Soon please."

"On it." Luck was with them as the light finally turned green, the car ahead of Teddy's finally moving forward while the blonde turned on his turning signal and took the turn. Behind them, a man in the distance was rushing back to his car as the one behind his started to honk his horn angrily at him. After a minute or two of steady driving, the man and his car was back in view, hanging back but holding strong.

"He doesn't look very happy. What'd I do? Give him a parking ticket?" Teddy seemed to ponder aloud, glancing into the rear view mirror as they cruised down the empty street.

Once again Billy didn't move, keeping his eyes glued on the road ahead of them. "No, I think he works with your suspect."

"Is that who he is? Another hired hand?" Teddy asked, confused.

This time it was Billy's turn to look confused. "Hired?"

Teddy wanted to kick himself for not saying it earlier as Billy's brown eyes watched him with a curious look. "Oh yeah um… when Tommy called, he mentioned that our suspect was just a hired man to get Lang's files and that he likely had an accomplice. Only thing was when they went to get the files, they didn't think he'd be home and had to deal with him. I was on my way there now to get more answers but now… I'm not so sure."

"I'll call Tommy, you just focus on driving." Billy said sternly as he pulled out his phone, skimming through the menus in search of his brother's cell phone number.

Chuckling lightly at his tone, Teddy couldn't help but smirk. "Yes boss."

"Tommy? Yeah it's me. I found our guy." Billy said casually, ignoring Teddy for the moment as he listened to his brother's response. "Yeah… about that. He's following me and Teddy down 9th Avenue."

"_WHAT!??_" the sound of Tommy's voice suddenly filling the car made both men jump, mostly Billy since he took most of it in the ear. Teddy could only glance over at him, concerned that he'd gone deaf from his brother's reaction.

"Dammit Tommy! Don't do that. Just calm down." Billy scolded, his voice echoing his anger at being screamed at. "I have a plan. Yes a _plan_. Unlike you who does things completely on impulse and without thinking it over properly."

Watching him shut his phone and stuff it away in a pocket, Teddy dared to speak into the silence that'd come over them "So? What's the word?"

"He'll stay put for now. He's not happy about it though." Billy muttered, clearly in a huff at whatever Tommy may've said.

"I can imagine. Are you sure about this? I could probably take him on no problem."

Billy shook his head, scowling as he watched the road, seemingly looking for something that might be up ahead of them. "No. We need to stay together. They ganged up on Dr. Lang, so let's gang up on them."

"That's a way of putting it." The blonde said under his breath before speaking again only in a slightly louder tone. "Do you really have a plan?"

"Sort of."

Of all the responses, Teddy definitely wasn't expecting that. "S-sort of?!? Well think quick because we're running out of road."

"Take the next right and head into that building." The raven haired man stated calmly, pointed at the upcoming intersection with ease.

Slowing to make the turn, Teddy had to give Billy a long, hard stare. "Are you sure?"

Not looking him in the eye, Billy just nodded sagely. "Oh yeah. This guy's in for a surprise."

"I hope you're right." Teddy muttered, looking left and right for any other drivers.

Billy didn't say anything as he eyed their surroundings as the blonde slowly drove them through the dark of the building he'd obediently turned into. Despite the darkness Teddy found no difficulty in navigating the new space, making sure to avoid anything that he didn't want to accidently ram into and give Billy a fright. Though he'd noticed a certain detail.

"Um… Teddy?" he heard Billy say from next to him, his voice hinting towards how nervous he'd become.

Not the least bit bothered by the dark, Teddy responded casually. "Yeah?"

"Why didn't you turn your headlights on?"

"What?" Teddy blinked, finally realizing his error. He felt like an idiot now that he'd noticed. If he hadn't been before, Billy was likely to be uncomfortable now. "Oh. Uh…."

"Got something to tell me?" the man asked, though Teddy could tell he was trying to stay calm as he spoke.

Knowing he couldn't see it, Teddy couldn't help but smirk anyway. He was touched by Billy's attempt to make him feel better about his 'talents'. "I can, I can see in the dark."

Billy was quiet for a moment. So quiet Teddy was almost afraid that he was really, really nervous about this new discovery to the extent of his abilities. "Okay. Is that why the headlights aren't on?"

"Half the reason." He said, trying to keep his voice even as he changed the subject as he rolled the car to a stop. "Our guy's hangin' back. You think he knows we're up to something?"

Seeming to accept there was something more important for them to be doing, Billy gave in to the shift in the conversation, his voice suddenly becoming confident again. "Doubt it. Turn the car off."

"Now what?" Teddy almost didn't get the words out of his mouth before Billy's door opened, the light in the car's ceiling lighting up and forcing Teddy's eyes to switch back to normal vision, to reveal that the raven haired man was already halfway out.

Billy's brown eyes stared right into him, the words coming to him easily. "We hide."

Surprised by this, Teddy couldn't help but blink at his words, his face almost blank from the shock of the suggestion. "What?"

Only Billy rolled his eyes, their brown depths seemed to plead with him to just listen for once. To just put faith in him. The eyes were backed up by his words. "Just—just trust me?"

Teddy stared at him a moment, concern flashing in his eyes before he finally nodded, following Billy's lead as the raven haired man exited the car and lightly shut the door. The blonde was able to follow his movements with his night vision, who had to create a bit of were light with a hand. Moving silently away from the car, both men hid behind a pillar a distance from the vehicle, listening intently to the careful footsteps of the man who'd entered behind them. Billy seemed to be steeling his face against what he might have to do while Teddy drew his gun from its holster. He watched the figure approach his car, his thumb prepared to pull on the hammer of the gun as he watched anxiously at how the man would react to their lacking presence. As expected, the man leaned towards the windows only to pull back, muttering curses under his breath. A rustle of cloth told them he'd drawn something.

A chill went up and down Billy's spine, even if everything was different, it seemed like his vision was just itching to come true. This man was likely going to kill, possibly even hurt Teddy if he didn't do something about it. Looking across the space and through the darkness, Billy could see that the blonde cop wasn't even looking at him, eyeing his supposed assailant with seasoned eyes. Even in the face of certain death, the blonde didn't seem at all disturbed that his own life was at risk. The look on his face made Billy feel like he was looking at a complete stranger rather than the man he'd met only a number of hours earlier. As if remembering he was there, Teddy looked over at him, his blue eyes seeming to glow in the darkness of the building's large room. The blonde gave him a sad smile and a nod before turning away, the smile quickly vanishing as he stealthily approached the man from his left.

Billy took the hint and let his were light vanish into nothing, using his abilities to instead enhance his vision a little as he moved around the pillar and followed Teddy's example. He eyed the man suspiciously, mostly hoping that his vision wouldn't come true. Moving quietly in the dark amidst the pillars, Billy didn't notice a small rock in his path until it was too late. Before he could do anything, he'd accidently kicked the tiny stone away from himself and hopping across the stone floor. His blood froze in his veins as he stopped cold, holding his breath in the unlikely hope that the man wouldn't notice. Too late. The man had already turned his attention to Billy's side of the large space, moving cautiously, the metal gleam of the gun in his hand making the raven haired sorcerer want to turn tail and run. Only Billy's feet were glued to the spot, his breath refusing to leave his lungs as the stranger approached, raising his gun to eye level. Even then Billy just couldn't bring himself to move, to hide, anything to avoid being discovered too soon by the cold hearted killer. If Teddy wasn't going to be shot by this man, Billy couldn't exactly visualize himself as a suitable substitute. While the man grew ever closer to where he was, Billy quickly let his power begin to gather in his hands. If he was going to be shot, he wasn't going to go down without a fight.

Even in the dark of the large room, Billy could easily make out the man as he came into view only fifteen feet away. Turning to see him standing there, the man didn't hesitate to turn his gun on the raven haired man. Almost instantly he let out two quick shots. The noise was so sudden Billy almost didn't react, swiftly bringing up a glowing hand to mentally surround to two deadly rounds with blue energy. Before the man could even try to fire any more, Billy raised the other and sent a bright blue bolt of lightning into the man's chest. Within seconds the man was sent flying across the room to land roughly some distance away, his gun flying away into the dark where hopefully no one would find it.

"Billy! Are you--?" Teddy stopped midsentence, his blue eyes glued onto the sight before him, glancing between Billy and the prone form now over twenty feet away. It took the blonde a moment to take it all in before one word escaped his lips. "Whoa."

Seeing the blonde appear once again made Billy remember the projectiles floating only a few feet away from him, levitating calmly in midair with blue energy as support. Calming his thoughts Billy let the energy go, letting the bullets fall to the ground, cold and spent. The blonde cop watched him with astonished eyes, the breath he was holding suddenly rushing out of his mouth as he almost desperately gasped for a fresh new one. Just as soon as he did, his body began to shake, his mind having locked into the thought of coming dangerously close to facing Death in person. He didn't notice himself falling over until Teddy was suddenly there, pulling him into an awkward bear hug as he continued to shiver and gasp.

"You've never been shot at have you?" Teddy asked, his words oddly muffled against the loud pounding of blood in his ears. His heart was beating so fast it was a wonder he could hear anything at all.

Billy didn't say a word, his eyes glued to the floor, somehow shaking his head in response to the question. He didn't think he could trust his voice at this point. Especially since he felt so embarrassed at his actions and how he couldn't stop shivering like he'd been pulled out of a frozen lake. For Teddy to see him this way made him want to just go into a corner and stay there until it was all over.

Only Teddy wasn't about to let him go, his large arms holding the smaller man in his gentle embrace. Using his empty hand, Teddy didn't hesitate to rub slow soothing circles into Billy's back, whispering quietly into his ear as he did.

"Shh, it's okay. You got him, he can't hurt you. There's no need to be afraid anymore. He's down for the count. Just calm down okay?"

"D-did I kill him?" Billy finally asked, almost fearful of the answer.

The blonde continued to hold Billy close, doing well to keep the gun in his hand from coming anywhere near him as he spoke in soft tones. "No, he's just knocked out. You hit him pretty hard. He won't be shooting anyone anytime soon. So calm down, take a few breaths and calm yourself down."

Shutting his eyes against the fear running rampant in his brain, Billy did as he was told, letting his lung take in deep breaths as he leaned his head against Teddy's shoulder. After a few minutes of breathing and calm ministrations from the larger blonde, Billy could feel his body start to go still.

After a moment or two went by, Teddy finally asked. "Better?"

"Yeah. Y-you can let go now." Billy stuttered, mentally kicking himself for not speaking more articulately. It was bad enough he'd nearly broken down in front of the man. Giving in to his habits now would likely only make him feel worse.

If Teddy made a face, Billy didn't see it. But the blonde obeyed anyway, releasing Billy and took a step back, reassured that he could stand on his own. "Right, sorry."

"No I--. I mean--." Billy stammered. Only what he wanted to say wouldn't come out.

The blonde cop just gave him a tired smile, patting Billy on the shoulder with his empty hand as he holstered his gun with the other. "I'm just glad you're okay. Get back in the car okay? I'll take things from here."

"Are you sure? He might--."

Blue eyes suddenly turned serious, though the smile on his didn't seem all that strained as he spoke. "Billy, I can tell from here. That guy's out cold. You hit him pretty good. All that needs to be done now is put him in cuffs and have a unit come and pick him up. Then we'll go see Tommy about the other guy."

Fighting down the urge to bite his bottom lip, Billy could only nod. He didn't want to get in the blonde's way. "Makes sense."

Teddy's tired smile widened as his eyes lost their serious edge. "See? Now get in the car. I'll be there in a minute."

Billy nodded, turning away and heading towards the blonde cop's car, the blush he'd fought down now burning away. He was sure that if Teddy was watching him with those special eyes of his, he'd likely see Billy's face had turned bright red. Obediently seating himself in the front passenger's seat, the raven haired man curled up as much as the seat and the space would allow as the same thought repeated over and over in his head. Somehow seeing bullets coming at him and being able to stop them with just a wave of the hand was something he didn't think he was capable of doing.

So, he sat in the dark of the blonde's car, curled up in the seat as he fought down another panic attack that threatened to destroy the calm Teddy had helped create. To go home and hide under the sheets of his bed seemed like a good idea at this point, although he'd already told Teddy that he and Tommy would help him solve the case. Backing out now would only break that promise, as well as the one Teddy made with Cassie. Denying Teddy would mean denying Cassie, and it was bad enough that the poor girl had lost her father to someone to greedy and selfish to thing about a human life. Footsteps outside the car told Billy that Teddy was finally coming back from wandering around in the dark of the building. On cue, the driver's side door swung open, making the light in the ceiling come on to reveal Billy still in his curled position and Teddy getting in. Only he had several items in his hands.

"What're those?" Billy had to ask since he seriously had no idea.

Placing them all in the middle console separating their seats, Teddy calmly held up each one as he named them, his voice echoing how serious, but also how tired, he was. "The bullet casings, the bullets they used to house and the gun they came from. All of it evidence that he's likely the one who shot Dr. Lang. I'll have the officers who'll be showing up deliver these to the lab for us."

"You're not taking them yourself?" he had to ask, since this seemed a little confusing to him.

Teddy let out a hollow chuckle, somehow holding tight to his ever present sense of humility. "I already told Tommy I would help with his 'interrogation', and I'm pretty sure that he's losing his patience. Besides, we need to wait until back up arrives to take over."

Billy nodded in understanding, leaning his head against the back of his seat. "That makes sense. How exactly are we going to explain all this anyway?"

The blonde cop nearly scoffed, his eyebrows rising as he turned his blue eyes out into the dark of the buildings' interior. "The way I figure it? We're all wandering around in the dark, he finds you, tries to shoot you but misses. I find my way over and knock him out. Pretty simple if you ask me."

He nodded again, thinking it over a bit harder than before, his mind already producing a flaw in such a tale. "Won't it be a little odd that the bullets didn't actually hit anything? Plus that guy might swear he saw me make them stop cold on their way to kill me."

"It won't matter now that he's in custody. All that matters is that this guy might be our link to why Dr. Lang was shot. We get this guy into a corner, he's bound to spill his guts if it means avoiding the needle." Teddy said simply, leaning back in his seat a bit more than was actually necessary. From the sound of his voice Billy knew that he was tired as hell. How he could keep going like he could was beyond his comprehension.

Such thoughts aside, Billy had to shake his head at Teddy's suggestion. He was just a civilian and he was already seeing holes in the blonde's explanation. "I don't know. That seems a little shaky."

"You're right, I get that it doesn't make much sense. But Tommy stopped his accomplice from leaving town and if we can get him talking, it might lead to who hired them to get the files from Dr. Lang's office. They turn on him or her, and everybody goes home happy." Teddy muttered, his gaze glued to the ceiling of the car. The poor man already sounded half asleep to Billy.

"I hope you're right."

Suddenly Teddy sat up a little, righting his head so that his tired gaze wandered through the darkness surrounding the car. Even then the fatigue didn't leave his voice. "So do I. I just hope that whoever hired them doesn't have anything on them to keep them from singing. That would just put us back at square one."

"Time will tell." Billy muttered sagely before noticing something in the rear view.

Having somehow barely heard the man's words, Teddy turned to stare at him, confused about what was said. "What?"

Billy pretended not to hear the inquiry, nodding at the mirror hanging between them as he resumed staring off into space. "Here's your back up. Go ahead and deal with them. I've got time."

Looking for himself and seeing he was right, Teddy nodded slowly, glancing between the mirror and Billy. "Yeah… sure. Are you sure that you're okay? I can always drop you off and head on by myself--."

"I said I'd help so I'll help. Getting shot at isn't the best thing in the world but… if it means Cassie gets answers about why all of this is happening…." He trailed off, a bit nervous now that the blonde's sky blue eyes were boring into him.

Teddy's kind smile was back in play, the sight of it making Billy want to pull his shirt over his head to hide the blush threatening to burn his face off. "I know what you mean. I'll be back."

"Right." He muttered, watching the blonde begin to step out once more, fairly certain that he'd missed his response entirely.

Billy was once again left in the silence of Teddy's car as the blonde once again exited, the bags in hand as he went to speak to his fellow officers of the law. Absently he watched the rear view mirror as the forms of Teddy and the officers exchanged words in the distance while the other one went to retrieve the fallen man. The exchange only took about five minutes, even as another cop car came to secure the suspect's own vehicle. After trading a few more words with each other, Teddy was finally on his way back to the car, waving at his fellow boys in blue with an air of relief. In less than a minute, Teddy was back in the driver's seat and turning the key, once again not relying on his headlights to make their way out of the dark building. Giving the officer's another kind wave, the blonde hit the gas pedal and they were on the move once more. Carefully and with ease, they were out into the late afternoon sun and back on the road.

The journey only took a good ten minutes, mostly because the traffic was moving so smoothly for once. Getting there proved a silent drive as both men were unable to think of things to say, Billy resolving to remain curled in his seat while Teddy calmly kept his eyes on the road ahead. Teddy had to snap out of his thoughts when he nearly forgot to turn on his turning signal so they could enter the parking lot next to the apartment complex. But thankfully he was able to do the necessary steps, slowly rolling the car to a stop in one of the empty spots before shutting the car off.

"Billy?" the sound of the blonde's voice brought him back to reality. Blinking his thoughts away he turned his gaze back towards Teddy.

"Huh?"

The blonde seemed to hold down a chuckle of amusement, a smirk trying to twitch its way onto his face. "We're here."

Billy resolved himself to just staring, a light blush most likely burning his face to a slight pink coloring. "Oh. Okay."

His kind expression gave way to concern, eyeing the man seated next to him in the hopes of getting what he hoped was an honest answer. "You're sure you're okay? I could always go up there by myself. You don't have to come and see--."

Billy quickly shook his head, cutting the blonde off. He could be faulty at times but even he didn't want to be seen as weak by a guy he'd just met. "It's okay. I've seen what my brother can do. Yeah sure I don't really care for it but I've seen it and you telling me to stay here aren't going to do much for me."

"I'm just saying that--." He began to say again, his voice still echoing his uncertainty over the whole thing. But Billy knew he was right to be worried. He didn't know Tommy like he did after all.

"I know. I'm sorry." Billy muttered quickly, straightening himself in his seat so he could properly exit the car as he opened the door and putting a foot down on the pavement. "We should head in before Tommy comes out here and starts making a fit."

From behind him he heard Teddy chuckle, the sound a deep and heartwarming thing to hear at this point. At least Billy thought so as he turned to see Teddy also exiting the car. "Yeah. He's already threatened me via phone message so--."

At that very moment the world froze. The blonde on the other side of the car had been calmly getting out, talking like nothing was wrong. Now it was like he'd ceased to exist. Billy had to stare at the void where the blonde had been for a good two seconds for what'd just happened to click in his head. Teddy had been shot. The one guy, out of all the other people on the planet, who'd practically shouldered his way into their lives with a kind smile and stern disposition was now on the ground. Whether he was bleeding or dead, Billy didn't know. All he knew was that the blonde was down and someone was to blame. Looking up at the rooftops, Billy's brown eyes scanned them for the shooter. The urge to just crawl into the backseat of the car and freak out was out of the question. For all he knew, he was going to be next. With a slight inhale of a nervous breath, Billy quickly ran around the car, leaving his door wide open as he made his way around the vehicle. First priority was making sure Teddy was alive. A loud and very audible twang made him jump, instantly forcing him to duck near the trunk of the car, the cool pavement smelling funny under his nose. Looking up, he scanned for any evidence of what'd just occurred.

Glass had fallen to the ground, most likely in an attempt to shoot him down too. Only the shooter got the back passenger window instead. Whoever this guy was, he had talent. The next time he fired it was unlikely that he'd miss either. Not wanting to take any chance, Billy focused on his main objective: making sure the blonde cop was still with the living. Getting there alive himself without being shot himself was going to prove harder than he thought. Even so, he had to try. Looking past the tires that blocked his sight, Billy did his best to get a good look at the fallen blonde without getting up. All the tires would allow him to see was his back and an outstretched leg, still and possibly lifeless. Fear of the worst made Billy freeze all over again. He wanted to move, to shout out, to do something other than just lie there like the useless person he saw himself as. If seconds or minutes went by he didn't know, all he knew was that when his voice finally decided to work, all he could do was scream.

"_**TEDDY!?!**_"

Cliffhanger! Cue my ever ominous evil laughter. Ah but what can I say? Eighteen pages is a lot to go through. You guys should be fine for a while. But then again I am being a little mean just leaving you guys hangin' like that. Oh well. It's not whether you win or lose, but how you play the game right? Then let's play shall we? Cool. On to more important business then shall we? Here's what's to come next time:

Next time:

Chapter 5: One Step Forward

Tommy's been busy, Billy's having a bad day and Teddy's down for the count?!? Just what the hell is going on? Is Teddy really dead? Or is it going to take more than a sniper's sharp eye to take down our favorite blonde? Just who is it that's pulling the strings behind everything that they see reason to shoot a cop? Find out when '_Connected_' returns with its next all-new installment known as:

_**Chapter 5: One Step Forward!!**_


	5. Chapter 5: One Step Forward

Hi there! Blue here and back for another round of '_Connected_', a fic apparently you guys enjoy quite a bit these days. And I'm glad you guys like it. Hard work does deserve at least a little reward at some point right? But who am I to talk? I should probably move on. Anywho, onto the reason you're lookin' at this page to begin with. I don't own '_Young Avengers_' in any shape or form except some wallpaper pictures and one of the books. Enjoy!!

"Iii" = speech

_Iii_ = thought

Chapter 5: One Step Forward

A loud, almost panicked scream did little to bring Teddy away from the intense pain he was feeling right now. He was sure it was Billy from the sound of it. And since he'd heard one of his car windows shatter, it was highly likely that either Billy had been shot, or just shot at. To him that was a sign that the poor raven haired man had gotten a bulls' eye attached to him somehow. The humor of this thought was bitter in his pain filled mind, knowing full well that thinking in such a way was highly inappropriate. Ignoring the pain now filling his body and reassuring his companion that he was fine was a whole different bag of chips. He wanted to move, to say something to the raven haired man some distance away, but another pulse of pain shooting through his being stopped this effort. Make no mistake, Teddy had taken shots before, some at point blank. But all of them while assisting a raid and he had a vest on. Right now was definitely different. He didn't have his vest on, and likely having it on wouldn't have helped either way.

Forcing himself to move, Teddy knew that by moving, he would be removing himself from whatever range the sniper had set himself up with. Daring to move his shoulder, he had to bite his bottom lip to hold back the hiss of pure agony. The last thing he wanted was to make Billy worried even more than he already was. But what he really needed to do was get moving, towards Billy and preferably out of the line of fire. While he focused mostly on his efforts to move, and maybe even sit up, Teddy barely noticed the voices now suddenly above his head, someone's hands trying to make him flip over. Their efforts, however, only intensified the pain in his shoulder and arm, making him let out an involuntary grunt of pain.

Billy's worry filled voice sounded off from above him, his apologetic words accompanied by his ever-gentle hands. "Oh god sorry Teddy. Can you hear me? Where does it hurt?"

"Ow." He stated simply, the word making its way past gritted teeth.

As if on cue, Tommy's doubtful voice sounded off from the side, his irritation as plain as ever. "See? He's fine. Now do you want me to find the guy or not?"

"Now please before he fires again." He heard Billy say before seeming to turn his attention back to him. "Teddy please say something!"

Teddy had to hold back another groan of pain. He really didn't want to get up but he knew he had to. Using his good arm to right himself, Teddy began the painful task of getting himself upright again. "Let me know when I'm awake. Because this dream sucks."

"I don't think now's a good time to be joking." Billy stated, his grip on the blonde proving enough to assist him in his efforts. After a good half minute of effort, Teddy was properly propped up against the side of his car.

"Yeah I figured. Sorry." He said, finally opening his eyes to give the man a good look over, his face creased with worry of his own. "Are you okay? To be shot at twice in the same day must be some seriously bad karma."

Despite the situation, Billy's amused smile was strained, his blue energy already engulfing his hands as he held them over Teddy's wounded shoulder. "Karma doesn't take pleasure in coming dangerously close to killing people. Bad luck, good luck and such maybe but death? That's a bit over the top don't you think?"

Teddy kept smiling, mildly wincing at the pain. "And you scold me for making jokes?"

"Now's definitely not the time. You could be bleeding internally." Billy said, the smile gone as his voice came in a rather stern tone.

"It's fine. We just need to get the bullet out." He stated, doing his best not to pull away from the man's hands. Billy was speaking before he could say more.

"That I can do. Will you be okay healing on your own?"

Teddy nodded, grimacing as he felt the piece of metal shift, apparently thanks to Billy's telekinesis. "I'll be a little dizzy but I'll be fine. It's no different than donating blood. Sort of."

"What did I say about jokes?"

He chuckled at the stern tone, resting the back of his head on the side of his car, smiling a bit too widely than necessary. "Sorry. Couldn't help it."

Billy just shook his head, exasperated but somehow remained serious as he concentrated on the blonde's wounded shoulder. "Just hold still. This won't take more than a minute."

"AH! Oh… god damn it to hell and back!" Teddy nearly yelled but held back with the help of firmly clenched teeth. He had to fight hard not to squirm or scream out for the man to stop, tears of pain threatening to fall from the corners of his eyes.

"Hold still." Billy muttered, his eyes locked solely on his task. "I almost got it."

"Easy for you to say—AAH!" the last yell of pain was one he couldn't hold back, the agony of it nearly making the blonde lie down again. "Okay…. actually moving out of the way was either really stupid or this guy's aim really sucks."

"From what I can see, it was a little of both. If he was trying to wound you, he succeeded." Billy seemed to mutter half to himself, turning his gaze away from the bloody bullet in his hand to eye the blonde and his attire. "You probably won't be able to wear this jacket for a while though."

Despite the pain shaking him to the core, Teddy managed to shrug off the comment, not really wanting to discuss such a thing at the present time. "This jacket's old, and it's not the first to get bullet holes in it. Were you hit?"

Blinking in surprise, Billy didn't look at him, promptly pocketing the projectile as he dared to glance over the side of the car. "Me? No. He missed me completely. I was a bit more worried about whether you were dead or not."

"Well obviously I'm fine for the most part. Where's Tommy? I thought I heard--." Teddy began to say before Billy cut him off, his voice showing how truly nervous he was about the whole situation.

"He went to go find our shooter. Hopefully he'll be able to bring the guy without a fuss."

Speak of the devil, Tommy reappeared next to them, Teddy nearly jumping up while Billy just seemed to act coolly about his reappearance. Though the look he had on his face wasn't particularly promising. "Hey guys. We okay down here?"

"Yeah. What about the shooter?"

"Yeah… about him…." the white blonde muttered, clearly hesitant. His light blue eyes even mirrored his caution on what to say next.

Both men stared at the man next to them, curious about what was bothering him, both hoping for a straight answer. "Tommy?"

"He's… he's kinda dead." He said sheepishly, scratching the back of his head as he gave his brother an apologetic stare.

"What?!? What did you do?" Billy demanded, making his twin wince at the sudden sound of his astonished yelling.

"Nothing! I swear! Either he shot himself or someone shot him themselves. It's one or the other but I don't really care. We've got another dead body and the guy upstairs might still be willing to talk." He reasoned before pointing at Teddy. "Can we move him?"

Scowling but letting it slide, Billy just shook his head. "No not yet. He needs time to deal with the sudden imbalance. Even if he can heal himself the blood loss can be a major blow. And you're sure that guy's dead?"

"I'm positive. He kinda made some pretty wall art with his brain. Do you want to see?" Tommy stated calmly, his tone telling them he wasn't in the mood for orders anymore.

Billy grimaced, instantly regretting the inquiry. "Not really. Help me get him up."

Wordlessly his twin obliged, both men grabbing the fallen blonde by the arms before slinging his limbs over their shoulders. Tommy was unfortunate to be on his right, where he'd been shot. Biting down a yell of pain at the man's harsh grip, Teddy just glared at him weakly instead. "Ouch. I kinda felt that."

"Sorry." Tommy said, sounding fairly sincere for once. Within seconds he was back to his rather snide self as he changed the subject. "Who's driving?"

Just as soon as the words were uttered, another shot rang through the air, the metal projectile smashing into the car's roof. The shock of it sent all three men back onto the ground, using the car once again as a shield. Teddy groaned in pain but didn't complain and Tommy had nothing to say. However Billy did. "Whoa! I thought you said he was dead!"

"I did and he is! A second shooter?" Tommy growled, apparently just as surprised as them that someone was still trying to kill them.

Teddy bit down another groan as he used his good arm to look for his radio. He could only hope it wasn't still in the car. "Only explanation. Both were set up most likely at the same time. Our first guy probably didn't know his buddy was hanging around in case he failed. We need to call for back up."

Both twins looked at him, incredulous while Tommy finally asked the questions on both their minds. "What? Why?"

"This parking lot is now a crime scene and this is all official police business. That and the extra cover will keep the new guy from shooting at us." He said, his voice fairly deadpan despite the pain he was feeling.

"Uh Teddy?" Billy said nervously as he was suddenly kneeling back down next to the car, making Tommy get up to look as well. "I don't think that call's gonna matter."

"What?" before he had a chance to say more, the scenery suddenly changed. Instead of being in the parking lot, he was back in the suspect's living room, somehow standing back up again. He had to blink not once but twice to readjust to things. "Whoa. What just--?"

"Shit!" he heard Tommy suddenly curse as the world turned black for a moment, his body somehow heavier that he remembered. Two sets of hands caught him and sat him down in what he could only assume was a chair.

"Tommy! What did you--?" Billy began to say, interrupted by a loud noise from outside, making both men stop speaking before the noise died down. Teddy couldn't quite identify the sound but he was sure it had something to do with his car.

The speedster's voice came quick and shaky, like he'd been scared out of his wits. "I'm sorry! I had to! We were gonna be roasted if I didn't!"

"Why is everything spinning?" Teddy inquired, having dared to open his eyes again only to find that everything was going round and round as if on a slow moving top.

"That's normal. Just don't fall asleep!" Billy warned from somewhere next to him.

"Easy for you to say." He muttered, shaking his head against the oncoming need to sleep that'd been dogging him for hours. "What the hell just happened?"

If Tommy grimaced, he didn't see it. "We're safe, for now at least. Your car on the other hand…."

"What about my car?" he demanded before realizing that the answer was least likely to be in his favor. "I probably don't want to know do I?"

"Not really. Only that you won't be trading it in for a new one anytime soon." He heard the white blonde deadpan from somewhere next to him. Just the news he really needed right now. The upside was that he'd managed to grab his keys before being shot, so there was at least something left of his car. That and he wouldn't have to break his own door down whenever the hell it was he actually got home.

"How're you feeling?" Billy instantly demanded, true worry toning his voice.

Teddy rubbed his face with his hands, hoping it would be enough to rid him of the spinning sensation. "Really dizzy. And really, really sleepy. You sure I can't just pass out?"

"I'm pretty sure Teddy. You need to be awake for a while. You just have to hold out for a while longer." He heard Billy say, vaguely aware that his voice was suddenly very far away as the man's footsteps faded into nothing. "I'll be back soon."

Teddy would've said or did something but he doubted the man was there to see or hear anything he did. Once again, the need to sleep was catching up with him, making him on edge of nodding off when he didn't mean to. Just as he was about to let slumber take him, Tommy's annoyed voice and rough hand on his good shoulder brought him back.

"Hey you! Bro said stay awake."

The blonde cop couldn't help but groan. He'd had enough of this day. "Today just isn't my day. I'm such an idiot. I shouldn't have gotten you guys involved in this."

He heard Tommy scoff from somewhere off to the side. "There's no helping it now. We didn't know you were on the case until you told us. And we want to help Cassie. If this is the only way, we're willing to help. Just don't nod off on me. You don't want to make my brother sad too do you?"

Despite his blurred vision, Teddy couldn't help but scowl at the man's words. He wasn't exactly in a state of mind where such words made sense. "I've no stinkin' idea what you mean by that but if it keeps you from kicking me."

"I didn't kick you!" Tommy snapped defensively, the volume of the man's voice making Teddy wince. Could he be any louder?

"Felt like it. At least everything's stopped spinning." He muttered, bracing himself against the armrests of the chair as he attempted to stand. Only to unsteadily sit back down, a dazed look most likely adorning his face. "Okay, I lied. Still spinning... a lot."

"Just stay still will you!? Man, you're probably the dumbest cop I've ever met." He heard Tommy snarl, a strong hand nudging him on the shoulder.

Turning his head in Tommy's general direction, Teddy let his lips curve into a sly smirk for once. "I'd hit you but as your brother said, I have to stay still."

As he expected, Tommy scoffed in annoyance, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Oh I'm trembling with fear. So scared I'm almost speechless. As if blue boy."

The smirk became a frown as the blonde tried to focus on the blurry image that was undoubtedly Tommy. "You like making snide remarks don't you?"

The blur shifted, clearly in annoyance. "You like stating the obvious don't you?"

"And there's my answer." Teddy muttered with a shrug.

"Are you trying to piss me off?!?" Tommy demanded, on edge of yelling at him in his anger and frustration.

"No. But if you'd shut up I just might be able to think straight."

He heard Tommy snarl angrily but said nothing. It was likely that he was becoming annoyed with the argument or knew better than to say much else. If he did anything or went anywhere, Teddy didn't notice. He was a bit too focused on trying to stay awake for whatever reason Billy had for telling him to. It was likely, in his mind, that the man had gone off in search of food and water. Both of these would be enough to get his body to work hard to pick up the slack that'd been forced on it. Staring absently at the floor, Teddy wasn't aware that he was slowly letting his eyes slip shut.

"Teddy? Teddy! Wake up!" he suddenly heard Billy say, one of the man's hands gently gripping his good shoulder, shaking him back to consciousness.

"Wha?" the blonde's memory was quick to come back. His eyelids were heavy for some reason and he was having trouble focusing. "Sorry, I didn't--."

"That's okay. Just open your eyes." He heard Billy say in the same kind voice that he'd used when they'd first met.

Teddy tried to and found that he failed every time. It was bad enough that the pain from his wounds was being replaced by an overwhelming dizziness that was threatening to knock him out against his will. Giving his head a good shake, Teddy had to rub the bridge of his nose in order to focus better. "I don't feel so good."

"You'll be okay in a few minutes. Try to drink this okay?" Billy said calmly, something cool and plastic finding its way into his hand. From the feel of it, Teddy could easily assume that it was bottled water. One of the most basic needs for a gunshot wound victim was fluids. Usually something like that was given through an IV drip along with a sedative. But they didn't have time or need to take him to the hospital. The wound itself was already gone, the blood loss however, was not. They had no choice but to act as if the blonde had donated it rather than lost it to an assassination attempt.

"Okay." Teddy managed to say, thankful that the man had such knowledge. Wasting no time in opening the bottle and taking a few small sips, a question managed to form in his head before becoming words. "Find anything else?"

His vision was still fairly blurry, but he could make out Billy's face pretty well. His worried expression couldn't be marred by any form of distortion as he spoke. "A few snacks but I'm not sure if they'll be enough. Tommy can get more if that's what it takes."

Teddy groaned, leaning all the way back into the chair, the soft cushioning of it making him want to sleep even more than ever. "Should've listened to the captain. Should've gone home like I was supposed to, like he fuckin' ordered me to. Definitely shouldn't have gotten you two involved."

A low amused chuckle made Teddy snap to attention, his eyes telling him that Billy was now smiling at him. "It's a little late for that now. Besides, we want to help remember? Just drink that and you'll be fine."

"Then sleep?" he asked innocently, almost like he was a little kid again.

Teddy could only curse his vision as it took its sweet time clearing up. The kind smile he was sure Billy was giving him surely would've blinded any man smart enough to look at it for too long. "Yeah, then you can sleep."

Liking the sound of this permitted course of action, Teddy nodded, fully aware that he felt stupid for asking such a question. But just thinking about getting some sound sleep was too good to ignore. "Sounds good."

Vaguely paying attention to things, Teddy was sure he heard Billy walk away and from the soft whispers off to the side, he and Tommy were discussing something. Most likely what to do now that he was officially useless to them and the case. At least for now as far as he knew. This sort of thing would only hold him back a few hours, possibly a day. And that would only make him slow things down. It was bad enough that Greg was hopping mad at him lately, which was something Teddy was pretty sure he was used to by now. If anything, Tommy was probably mad at him for being a nuisance and Billy was likely now worried to death about him. As amazing as it was that he'd known the two for no more than a day, and already he felt like kicking himself for letting them get involved. He was pulled from his thoughts when he remembered why his hand was starting to feel a little chilled, once again raising the water bottle to take a sip. Knowing that wasn't all that he needed, his blue eyes wandered in search of the snacks Billy had said he'd found.

Sure enough, the small packages of food had been set down on the table a few feet away from him. Taking into consideration of the hour as well as what had just happened to him, the hunger now clawing at his stomach was getting too strong for him to ignore. Resolving himself to having nothing else, Teddy absently screwed the cap back onto the water bottle, using his ever useful ability of stretching limbs to reach across what little distance kept him from getting back the proper nutrients he needed to function. Setting the bottle down on the floor between his feet, the blonde cop occupied himself with getting the plastic packaging open. From what he could tell from the wording on it, it was a mix of oatmeal, a nut or two along with what looked kinda like caramel. Upon further inspection, he was relieved to find that it was still several weeks from expiring on him. Not that it would take that long for him to eat the damn thing. Wordlessly stripping away the snack bar's plastic defense, Teddy let his mind focus on chewing and swallowing it without taking it too far. He was hungry but he didn't want to appear that hungry, whether he was alone or not. Staying put and being quiet was something he'd been doing since childhood, mostly due to his mother's gentle instruction. There was a time or two where he'd gotten rowdy only to discover she had a temper hidden behind her loving smile. Since then he'd learned quickly to keep the anger from coming back. Hell, he half expected the room to change, making it into his old living room, Sesame Street or some other show on the TV as he sat in front of it like the good little eight year old kid that he was.

Consuming the snack bar too no time at all, the low rumble of his stomach telling him to eat another before stopping. It wasn't until he was contemplating downing a third of his new victims that Billy's voice brought him back to reality. "Teddy?"

Thankful his vision had finally cleared up, Teddy stared at the man standing over him with mild curiosity. "Hm? What's up?"

"Tommy says it's okay to leave. Are you up to moving around?" the man asked, his brown eyes kind and questioning as he stared down at the blonde before him.

Teddy's face soured in thought. He wanted to get home and clean up, but whether or not it was safe for him to be upright so soon was unknown to even him. After a moment he simply shrugged. "Probably, though I should probably avoid moving around too much. I kinda doubt I'm back to a hundred percent right now."

Billy's kind smile was back in place, the sight of it sending Teddy's heart reeling. "That's okay. You won't have to worry much about how we're going."

This statement was enough to snap Teddy out of his sudden state of awe, his face twisting in confusion at the man's words. "Huh?"

Once again Billy was snickering, a confident smile on his face as he spoke. "You'll see. Can you stand?"

"Uh yeah but what--?" he began to say before Billy cut him off. Something the man had yet to do since first meeting.

"Trust me. It'll blow your mind." He said calmly, a look of complete confidence taking over his features in a manner that Teddy wasn't sure was good or bad.

But Teddy could only stare at him in pure and utter confusion, finally deciding to just nod in acceptance anyway. Billy hadn't judged him when he saw what he could do, so then why should he? He wasn't sure if Tommy was making any kind of judgments, but he wasn't about to go up to the guy and ask. It was bad enough the man disliked him for being a cop. Thanks to the water and the snack bar, Teddy was sure he didn't feel so lightheaded anymore. He'd thought about force-feeding himself another one but now that he was likely going to get to go home he thought against it. As he was cautiously rising to his feet, something suddenly decided to pop forth from his memory.

"Oh yeah… what about the suspect? Should we just leave him here?" he asked, clearly curious about leaving the man's twin by himself with a known criminal.

Billy just seemed to chuckle as this question, nodding in understanding. "Tommy says that he's willing to hang out here with him so that he doesn't try to run away again. You can give him a good interrogation later. Right now you need to get home and get changed out."

"But--." Teddy began to say before the man's face became stern.

"No buts. You were injured and you're likely dying from lack of sleep. You said so yourself right? That you should've listened to your boss and gone straight home? Well we're going to make sure you didn't exactly disobey him."

Caught a little off guard by this statement, Teddy silently nodded in turn, suddenly sheepish. "Are you sure? I haven't exactly cleaned in a while so--."

The sly smirk was back on Billy's face, the sight of it making Teddy wonder if he was fast asleep already. "A little bit of dust isn't gonna kill me Altman. I can be a bit of a neat freak but it's not that big of a deal. Just take my hand okay?"

"Huh?" _His hand? What the hell? Is he gonna lead me home like a little kid?_ He thought in puzzlement. Whatever the man had in mind, he had to trust him. Resolving himself to being ever confused by whatever Billy was going to do, Teddy wasted no time in obliging the dark haired man by holding out his left hand. As thought he wasn't even thinking about it, Billy immediately took it and began muttering something under his breath. Once the words began to leave his mouth, Billy's eyes began to glow an eerie neon blue, Teddy's own natural blue ones widening in awe.

Before he knew it, through Billy's hand, he was surrounded by bright blue energy, the feel of it making the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. As the energy covered him from head to foot, he saw the scenery change again, as if he was walking through a doorway that none but him could suddenly see. What was once the suspect's living room had suddenly become his, all the way down to the pictures on the walls and the furniture adorning the room. Just the sight of things changing again was making his head spin all over again. Only this time it wasn't as bad as before. The transition itself made him tired but that was something he could easily ignore since just the fact that it happened had left him speechless.

"Phew! All in one piece over there?" Billy asked calmly, smiling knowingly at the stunned blonde next to him.

Still stunned by what had just happened, Teddy couldn't help but stand in awe of what the raven haired man beside him had done. "H-how did you do that?"

"I told you it would blow your mind. Hm, not bad for a cop's place if that's something I can say about it. Is your kitchen this way?" Billy inquired, seeming to think nothing of letting the blonde cop's hand go as he started to walk away.

Brought out of his shock and saddened by the loss of contact, Teddy kept a firm demeanor as he answered the other man's inquiry. "Uh yeah. Let me help."

Suddenly Billy was in his face, making the blonde halt his advance, the stern look on his face making him pay very much attention to his words. "Oh no, not you. You go get cleaned up. I'll be the one cooking this time."

"Interesting." Teddy said calmly, finally smirking knowingly at the slightly shorter male.

As if instantly suspicious, Billy's eyes narrowed, his gaze showing caution. "What?"

Smirking still, Teddy just shrugged, his blue eyes eyeing the man in front of him with almost devious eyes. "Nothing… only you seem different."

"Different?" Billy asked simply. It was obvious that his mask of confidence was already cracking under his gaze.

Using his size to his advantage, Teddy leaned forward slightly, making Billy blink. He could swear the man was beginning to blush from the proximity of their faces. "Yeah, which is strange. From what I've been able to tell, you're not usually this direct. Am I right?"

Hazel brown eyes widened, a pink coloring dusting Billy's face as he tried to keep his voice from failing him. "This is different than before. Y-you'd just met us so--."

"Uh huh." Teddy deadpanned, finally pulling back and turning away to walk the other way. "Well I'll let it slide this time. If you plan on staying you can sleep on the couch and there should be blankets and some extra pillows in a closet somewhere."

If Billy physically recovered, Teddy didn't see. But the man's voice was calm and soft again, like before. "Sure. You probably need more food so I'll see if I can't find you something."

"Thanks." Teddy stopped to turn back, his blue eyes gluing the other man to where he stood. "And Billy?"

"Yeah?" he asked in turn, almost afraid for some reason.

The kind smile the blonde gave him only made his heart beat a little faster as he spoke in a soft and kind voice. "It's not that I'm not grateful that you guys are helping me, it's just that I don't want you guys to get hurt on my behalf. Even though I'm starting to think that today was 'Target Teddy Day' or something."

A silence fell between them until Billy finally gave in and burst into laughter, his words coming between gasps and chuckles. "Did you seriously just say that?!?"

The grin on Teddy's face nearly gave him a heart attack. "Hey I'm being serious here!"

Somehow Billy was able to regain his composure, small giggles threatening to come forth as he steadied his voice. "I know it's just—that was so damn funny!!"

"Anyway… I guess today just wasn't my day." Teddy said in an almost saddened tone, his grin becoming a sad but sweet smile. "And I'm glad that neither of you got hurt."

Before his mouth could let loose anything else, Teddy had to force himself to turn and walk away, heading right for the hallway leading to the rest of his apartment. Even though he'd said what he wanted to say, the fact that both he and Billy were nearly killed was still weighing on his mind. He'd put two innocent people in the same line of fire as him, and there was nothing he could do to convince them to step away. His night vision helped see better than most as moved through the darkness of his home, passing by an extra room or two as he turned into his bedroom, wisely bypassing his bed to head for the small bathroom beyond. It was then that he had the common sense to turn on the lights, rest assured that he had all he needed for the night as he finally took his coat off. It was true that he wouldn't be able to wear it now that it was covered in his blood and had obviously been poked with a rather unsightly hole. The same was for his shirt underneath, another fact he would have to live with. He'd lost shirts this way before so this aspect didn't bother him in the slightest.

Letting the jacket come to rest on the toilet cover, Teddy quickly shed himself of his now useless shirt to look at his shoulder a bit more closely. It was obvious now that thanks to his healing abilities, the wound would be gone within a few hours. Hell, the damn thing wouldn't even leave a scar now that he thought about it. Before he could stop himself, Teddy let out a hollow chuckle at the thought. What the hell was he worrying about scars for? He had plenty of those as it was. Getting another one shouldn't really be bothering him this much. Shrugging the thought off, Teddy kicked the door shut in case Billy came looking for him. Even though he was sure the man was preoccupied, he still didn't want the man to accidently walk in on him. Turning his attention to his destroyed clothes, Teddy was sure he could sulk over the loss later after he got some real sleep. Slipping off his shoes and turning the shower on, the blonde cop continued to strip down to nothing as he waited for the air to steam up from the water's heat.

--_**With Billy**_—

Teddy's words had left him a little speechless but grateful the man took the time to say such things. Watching his retreated back with an air of astonishment and quite possibly awe, Billy silently accepted Teddy's words. Though something about their conversation had caught him as a bit odd in its rather unusual nature. The blonde had been somewhat hesitant, as if he were nervous before switching to being suddenly confident and charming. A switch that, he at least, didn't expect at all. True, he'd been acting a little out of character by being so oddly confident and straightforward. But that was only because the blonde had looked like he was really out of it and likely couldn't think straight. Thinking about it now, his face burned a bit at how wrong he'd turned out to be.

_Oh c'mon Billy! You've only known the guy for less than 24 hours and already you're acting like you're head over heels for him!! Snap out of it!_ He thought furiously to himself, shaking his head to clear his mind as he turned on his heel, heading for what he hoped was the kitchen. Teddy had been right that when he'd said he hadn't cleaned in a while. There was a thin layer of dust all over the tables he passed, the magazines he saw were over a month old and as he finally entered the kitchen, saw the true extent of the man's lack of maintenance.

Luckily, for the most part it was just dishes that hadn't been washed, trash that hadn't been taken out, along with the obvious spill created in a rush to get out the door. Essentially, the errors the blonde had made were simply the most basic. Not helping to suspect that this level of disorganization went deeper than most, Billy made his way to the fridge, only to find that everything in it, as well as the items in the cupboards, were fairly recent. Rest assured that this was all that was the blonde's situation had to offer, Billy spent the next fifteen minutes reversing the damage all his neglect had caused. Once this was accomplished, the raven haired man busied himself with procuring a meal for himself, and possibly Teddy if he was up to it. When the blonde didn't reappear, Billy resolved himself to eating alone and in the unusual silence of the man's apartment. Quickly cleaning up after himself and putting Teddy's plate in the fridge for later, Billy made his way back into the living room.

To be honest, he was a little worried about all the dust covering the wooden surfaces and clouding the plasma screen TV over to the side of the room. It was obvious now that the blonde cop had been biding his time, not at home, but either at his office or in his car. One of which was most likely filled with night shift cops, the other in a parking lot destroyed by malicious flames with very little to work with. Billy had to wince at the thought. He could only hope the blonde man didn't have anything particularly valuable in that car before it was blown to pieces. Shrugging away such thoughts, Billy decided then to look at his watch. What it said shocked even him.

_8:47?!? It's this late already? Coulda sworn it was earlier than that. Either way, I should probably call Tommy before I check on Teddy. Come to think of it… where is he anyway?_ He thought, the epiphany to the blonde's prolonged absence instantly restarting Billy's concern for the man. Forcing himself to remain calm despite the uneasy silence that surrounded him, Billy quietly padded his way down the hall, his socked feet barely making any sound on the wooden floors of the apartment. The last thing he wanted to wake the blonde if he was asleep, but he didn't want to accidently sneak up on him if he wasn't. As he passed through the darkness of the hallway, Billy couldn't help but feel his heartbeat begin to speed up. He'd been in other people's houses before, but for some reason this felt different. Almost a bit too different for him to even be comfortable with moving about so freely, as if there was nothing that could possibly stop him from finding the owner's secrets. Usually he felt pretty at ease, mostly because the homes he was in belonged to criminals and the mentally twisted. But Teddy? He was normal. He was….

Billy came dangerously close to slapping himself. Now wasn't the time to be thinking about such things. For all he knew the blonde was feeling some of the bad after effects of sudden blood loss, which was something he was mentally prepared to handle. Eyeing the hallway ahead of him, Billy could easily see a golden light coming from a room ahead, faint but true. This gave him immediate knowledge that the room was likely the master bedroom, where the blonde was sure to have gone. His heart still beating a mile a minute, his breath caught in his throat, Billy quickly shed the nervous air that surrounded him. He was used to discovering secrets people wanted to hide from the world. But now? He felt like he was intruding where he shouldn't be, like he didn't belong there. Only his only means of finding out if Teddy was okay was to move forward. So finally managing to kick away his uneasiness after a few minutes of self-conscious silence at himself, Billy forced his knees to bend and his feet to take steps towards the blonde's bedroom.

Upon first walking in, Billy could easily see that nothing was amiss. The bathroom, which had been conveniently built right next to the master bedroom, had its door ajar with the light on. Even from where he stood Billy could feel the remnants of warm steam wafting from the small room. No water was running to is was safe to assume that whatever the blonde had done to clean up with already complete. Choosing now to pan his eyesight to the right, Billy's hazel brown eyes took in fairly plain walls, a picture or two to make up for the large areas of void space along with a closet door, a chest of drawers and finally the bed. A bed, Billy was sure from mere observation, appeared Queen sized. The room seemed fairly small for a King and Teddy was a bit large for a Twin. Everything seemed to just breathe of Teddy, the colors warm and welcoming, but all the while seeming to hint at a sense of mystery that Billy couldn't put his finger on. Thinking it best to ignore these details for now, Billy turned his attentive gaze to the form now literally splayed on the bed itself. The room was dark since it was fairly obvious at how tired the blonde was and was most likely too exhausted to shut the bathroom light off behind him. Silently walking further in to the room, Billy kept his curious gaze on the sleeping form on the bed. From what he could tell, he was wearing a pair of dark colored sleep pants and either never really did or was just too tired to put a shirt on. His face was hidden by a small towel he'd probably been using to dry his hair as he lay on his side, breathing softly as he lay facing towards Billy.

Though he was sure the man was asleep, Billy couldn't help but truly feel as if he were intruding rather than being a guest. But to be honest, this wouldn't exactly be the first time he ghosted his way around someone's home, regardless of whether they were home or not. Leaving for such thoughts for later, Billy felt the urge to be the caring person he was, his brain seeing no reason why a man fast asleep should have a towel on his head. For all he knew, he'd just roll over and smother himself for heaven's sake. Nervousness suddenly gone, Billy felt a new sense of confidence as he moved further alongside the bed, warily eyeing the blonde in case he suddenly stirred in his slumber. The last thing he wanted was for the guy wake up. Bracing himself up on the bed with his left and reaching out with his right, Billy caught the edge of the soft material with the ends of his fingertips. Frowning a little at this discrepancy in distance, he wasn't about to be giving in to failure. Stretching himself just a little further, Billy had to bite his bottom lip as he silently prayed the blonde cop wouldn't awake and notice his efforts. With a slight tug, Billy was able to get more of the small towel than he had a moment before, giving him more to work with. Thus allowing him to practically claw at it and slowly pull the damned thing from the blonde's sleeping head.

Just as he was about to pull away and off the bed, Billy felt a strong hand suddenly grab his and force him down. Falling face first onto the clean sheets that were Teddy's bed, Billy couldn't help but let out a muffled 'oof' as his face met cloth. His face burning hotter than a furnace, Billy quickly righted his head to look at the still sleeping blonde. Staring at the man's face now, he was sure that if the man were awake, he'd die of embarrassment: the blonde had quite promptly reached forward and taken Billy's right hand into his protective grip, having shifted to be closer to this newly attained limb. Red-faced and in shock, Billy could only stare as the blonde cop seemed to take a great inhale before letting out an equally long exhale. What was even more shocking was how peaceful the man's face was. If not for his steady breathing, Billy could've easily assumed the man had died and gone to heaven.

"Uh… Teddy?" he said softly, his voice wavering a little before taking a breath in order to speak again, this time with a bit more strength. "Teddy."

The blonde jumped, as if awoken by a loud noise. He started to sit up only to flop back down, his blue eyes clouded by sleep somehow meeting Billy's. "Huh? Wha?"

Hoping that his face wasn't beet red, Billy barely managed to get his voice working again as he glanced between the man's face and their hands. "Y-you can let go now."

His vision clearing as he looked, Teddy's eyes widened in shock, and from what Billy could tell, obvious embarrassment. He instantly sat up, quickly releasing Billy's arm as his jaw started to work, as if he were at a loss about what to say. "Oh. Oh god sorry. I didn't--."

Billy quickly cut him off, sitting up a little, giving the panicking blonde the kindest smile he could muster. "No, it's okay. Go back to sleep. It's okay."

"You sure?" the blonde asked hesitantly. It was obvious he was a little dubious about Billy's intentions, but apparently couldn't find any definite reasoning behind such thoughts.

Nodding sagely, Billy quietly indicated for Teddy to get into bed the right way. "I'm sure. Just go back to sleep okay?"

Hesitant but doing as he was told, the blonde eyed him just as suspiciously as before, as if truly wondering what the other man was thinking. "You're positive?"

"Very much yes." He said calmly, even though he was shaking on the inside. Teddy wasn't the only one wanting to die of embarrassment. Instead Billy kept a straight face as the blonde lay down again, sleep starting to cloud his expression again. "Just get some shut-eye. You earned it."

Still looking a little dubious at his words, Teddy seemed to accept what he said anyway, eyelids drooping as he barely got out the words. "Aye aye captain."

Forcing down an amused chuckle, Billy smoothed the sheets a little before easing his way back to the bed's edge and back onto the floor. Looking back at the blonde, it was easy to see he'd fallen right back asleep again. The feel of Teddy's fingers on his, having left a ghostly tingling on his skin, sent warming chills up and down his spine, making his face once again turn a hot pink. If he didn't know any better, he was pretty sure that he hadn't wanted to let go. To just hold on and not move, not pull away from a moment that might've been telling him something important. Even now he felt it anyway. Somehow he'd known since the night before, the knowledge eating into his brain like a need that demanded to be satisfied. Love had set its trap for him, and he'd walked right into it.

--_**With Tommy**_—

It'd been several hours since his brother and their 'ally' had left for what he could only suspect was home. He wasn't about to leave and see if that was true. Billy had told him to watch their suspect like he'd done for the past couple of hours. And to be honest, he was starting to get bored more than anything. The sleaze, still tied to a chair in one of the back rooms, had finally stopped trying to scream at him, having used pretty much every foul word and insult he could think of. Even pleading endlessly proved to be no grounds for convincing the white blonde to let him go, only earning him a punch to the gut or jaw, along with an annoyed glare that bit like arctic ice into his soul. Tommy had spent some real quality time with some of society's worst back when he was a teen. Saying he had experience in getting people to talk was a bit of an understatement now that he thought about it. He knew how and where to hit a guy without really leaving much behind, knew just how much a bone could take before breaking or at least twisting slightly to make it fracture.

Even with all his knowledge, even Tommy had a limit. Yes it's true. Tommy knew better than go too far when it came to harming someone. He didn't use acids or fire, and he rarely used blunt object to get the reaction he wanted. Breaking noses was easy for him. Breaking fingers was crossing a line in his mind. Though he'd never admit it out loud, he'd only use such a method in order to get what he wanted, and fast. But for now, the good ol' Chinese water torture was starting to work its magic. With each drop that fell into the bowl in the bathroom sink that echoed through the quiet apartment, Tommy could slowly see his latest victim grow weaker and weaker. The man's short brown hair was already starting to stick to the skin of his forehead, his pink tongue coming out more often to wet dry lips. His moss green eyes had begun to dart between the bathroom door, his own restraints visible across his chest, and Tommy. At the moment, the white blonde in question was casually flipping through a book he'd found earlier, his expression doing nothing to betray his opinion of the book.

"Please… just… just let me go." The man pleaded finally into the silence between them, his voice hoarse from all his yelling and screaming. The fact his mouth and throat were dry was now a factor he couldn't ignore anymore.

Once more, Tommy said nothing, his pale blue eyes skimming over the many words in his immediate view. If he'd heard the man's muttered words, he gave no sign. Likely he didn't care for what the man said, or simply wasn't listening.

Not for the first time that night, the man was beginning to sniffle in his misery, tears stinging at his eyes. "I-I'm begging you… let me go… please. You don't know what he'll do to me if you don't."

Tommy seemed to freeze, his head slowly turning back towards his captive, a deadly serious look on his face. The man tied to the chair shivered from the sudden chill that'd come into the room. "He?"

"Please just… just forget you ever met me and let me go. He just might let me live you know? I don't know how he does it but he'll get it done, like it or not. Please, please for the love of God, let me go." The nameless man pleaded now that the white blonde was listening to him again.

Angrily slamming the book shut and practically tossed it off to the side somewhere, Tommy was suddenly in his face, scowling in rage."Why should I? You have information I need. Did you know that your buddy shot my cop friend out in the parking lot? He's a lousy shot so the guy's gonna live. But what I want to know is why? And why the doctor?"

"I don't know, I swear! Please I really don't know! You're not a cop, I know that but I honestly don't know anything else. I don't know a damned thing!" the man whimpered, really wishing the man in front of him would calm down. He didn't think he could take another round of 'beat the bad guy'.

But alas, all his words did was make the man even more irritated than before, the white blonde rising to his feet as he spoke through gritted teeth. "So you're telling me, that I spent all this time beating the living shit out of you for nothing? I don't think so pal. You know why?"

"No! No I don't! Just--." He began, before Tommy viciously cut him off.

"SHUT THE HELL UP AND LISTEN YOU PRICK! The girl who's the daughter to the guy you and your goon buddy shot is a good friend of mine. And the longer you leave me hangin' is the longer you make her cry. And while she cries, the more I'm gonna get pissed at you. So while I'm getting pissed at you, your friends are probably lookin' for someone else to knock off. Now you tell me what I want to know, or you and I are gonna be sittin' here for quite a while." He snarled, coming to tower over the bound man, a fist raised menacingly to get his point across. "I've got way more time than you do."

Instantly panicking, the man ducked his head in the hopes of shielding his face from damage. "OKAY! Okay! I-I'll tell you. Just… just don't kill me."

"No promises. You can blame yourself for makin' me so damned pissed." Tommy growled in aggravation, his eyes most likely rolling in their sockets as he put his fist away. For now at least. "Now talk dammit before I hit you again."

The man's eyes blinked like mad as he tried to get his thought together. He'd been spared the agony of physical abuse and torture. But he could only pray for how long. "Okay! Alright! There's this guy who hired me and my buddy about two weeks ago. At first we thought he just wanted info. Ya know, surveillance and shit. But when we met him, we found out he wanted somethin' else. Somethin' different than what we were used to doin' and stuff."

"Like what?" the white blonde demanded, dubious about the man's words. But he was listening now. Now that they were getting somewhere for once. "Taking candy from children?"

The bound man shook his head enough to make Tommy think he could hear his brain hitting the walls of his skull. "Nah, nah! Like breaking and entering. Hell, the guy had a map of the guy's house! I didn't' want to do it, honest! But my buddy was lickin' his chomps like it was Christmas dinner! He just couldn't refuse, and he knew that he couldn't get it done without my help."

"So you helped your sleazebag friend break into an old man's house, shoot him dead, grab a few files and run? How dumb are you?!?" Tommy was back to being on edge of yelling, his anger once again rearing its vicious head at the poor man.

"I didn't shoot the guy! I swear to God and my mother's grave!"

Tommy's eyes narrowed coldly, making the brunette shiver. "Uh huh, right. I'm sure she's doin' some turnin' in the ground right now."

For once, the man's face turned serious, his brow furrowed and his voice stiff. "I'm serious man! I hate guns like fuckin' hell but I only use 'em for protectin' myself. Not killin' old people! My buddy's more into shootin' shit than I am."

Letting this slide, Tommy seemed to deflate a little, his anger dissipating while frustration took its place. Taking a few steps away, the white blonde could only rub his eyes. He was getting really tired of all this. Pale blue eyes fell on the nervous brunette bound to the chair, watching him carefully as he moved one with their 'conversation'. "You got a name for this guy? A picture maybe? I can't be runnin' all 'round town lookin' for a guy just by name only ya know."

"I used to have a few lying around but I'm not sure what happened to 'em." The man said in an apologetic tone, ducking his head to indicate the truth behind the emotion. "B-but I do got one on my phone."

"And where's your phone? Up your ass?" Tommy asked, his tone only suggesting how tired of this conversation he was.

Blinking his surprise at the man's sarcasm, the man didn't dare miss a beat out of fear of instilling his anger further. "I-in my front left pocket. I haven't had a chance to turn it on since I put it in there an hour before you nabbed me."

Tommy raised an eyebrow at this news, knowing now that the man before him was being honest for once. "Uh huh. And it's got this guy's info in it?"

Nodding the man let out a small sigh of relief. He'd dodged a major bullet this time for sure. "For sure. I dialed it in myself when I first got it."

Grimacing at what he now had to do, Tommy knew that it was now or never, and he definitely wasn't going to untie the guy either. Fighting down outright resentment, the white blonde walked back over and crouched down, wasting no time in inserting his hand into the man's left pocket in search of his cellular device. As his fingers got a fairly good grip on it from the depths of his jeans pocket, Tommy glared up at the man, who was clearly watching him work the phone out into the open. His expression darkened further when he snarled at him. "You're all about awkward aren't you?"

"N-not my fault! You jumped me before I could do anything! That's awkward of you don't you think?!?" the man stuttered as Tommy straightened with the phone in hand, flipping the small device open and waited for it to start up.

"Oh shut up. You're just pissing me off again." He snarled in annoyance. He wasn't in the mood for much anymore. Within a minute he was working his way through the menus, pale blue eyes scanning the information inside. After finding what he was looking for, he opened the file he wanted, only for his face to go pale at what he saw. "SHIT!!"

"W-what?" the man asked, startled by his assailant's sudden outburst of disbelief and ever present frustration.

"I've seen your buddy." Tommy muttered angrily, closing the phone and nearly slamming it down onto a table off to the side. "He's got a bullet hole in him. All the while lying next to a sniper's rifle, probably as a frame up by whoever shot his stupid ass. And your other buddy's in police custody."

Hearing this news made the bound man pale deathly white, his nervous stutter only getting worse when he spoke. "O-oh god. And I'm probably next! Please! You gotta help me!"

"Well I already helped rearrange your face. And I've got my orders to hang out with you until my friends come back."

"When would that be?" the man asked, clearly distressed by everything he'd been told and most certainly fearing his future.

Instead of getting angry or annoyed, Tommy just shrugged in his sudden indifference to the situation. "Tomorrow if they're up to it. Not sure. I'll know when we get the call."

"S-so what do we do until then? Could you at least untie me?"

Pale blue eyes were instantly on him, making him wince from their sharp gaze. "I don't think so. But only if you need to piss or something."

"A-are you sure you can't just--?" the man began to say, only for Tommy's darkening expression to silence him again.

"Look you. Either you want me to kill you now or beat the living daylights out of you some more. Which is it?"

"S-sorry." he stammered, doubting the man would do much if he just kept quiet.

Accepting his simple response, Tommy nodded at him. "Now can it. We probably got a long day tomorrow."

For once the man just nodded back, knowing better than to anger the white blonde much further than he already had. The man had already shown he had a fairly short fuse. Making it any shorter wouldn't do anything in his favor. In the silence that fell between them, the man could only watch as Tommy lazily sat down on the floor at the end of his bed. Using the remote the TV was suddenly on with the man's pale blue eyes coolly glued to the screen. Knowing that the man would just ignore him no matter what he said or did, the pain of his injuries did little to help him focus on what to do. Escape was unlikely, the man seated only a few feet away had made that pretty damn clear to him earlier that day. Seeing no other choice that was available to him, the nameless man simply leaned a little so he could view the program filling the dark room with light and color. After close to two hours of calm viewing, both men had nodded off to sleep, one from fatigue and injury, the other for better lack of something to do. As both sat limply in their own slack positions, neither were conscious to hear the front door swinging open.

Well, well! Another rather interesting end to another interesting chapter? Yeah in know another cliffhanger but what can I say? I'm an evil person sometimes. But enough about me, but more about what's comin' soon to your local site. Though I am sorry that this one took so long to come out but since my sleep patterns become so out of whack, it's become a little hard to function even when I'm awake. It's thrown me off a little but the quality that comes out of my head still seems to be the same. Anywho, here's what's to come:

Next chapter:

Chapter 6: A Day Alone With You

Teddy's exhausted, Billy's struggling with his emotions and Tommy's about to get into the bind of a lifetime. Just who is it that's making a late night visit? Are they friendly? Or are they worse than just enemies? Will Tommy be able to get away in time to sound the alarm, or is this the end of the road for everyone's one and only speedster? Find out when '_Connected_' returns with the much anticipated:

_**Chapter 6: A Day Alone With You!!!**_


	6. Chapter 6: A Day Alone With You

Hello again! It's me Blue, and I'm back once again. This new project I so simply named as '_Connected_' has been really coming together so far and I can only hope you guys are enjoying it to the fullest. Really hoped you enjoyed the last chapter I put up for you guys. Yeah I know, it took me a while to get it up there but I got it up there! And left me with just about enough brain cells to spare for the rest of the story and quite possibly a sequel too. Maybe I should start counting them…. I'm just kidding. I've plenty of gray matter for what I plan to happen in this fic. Of that I can reassure you guys. So before I ramble much more than I already have, I'll just get to it. I don't own '_Young Avengers_' in any shape or form. Though I do hope to have all the books at some point. Enjoy!!!

"Iii" = speech

_Iii_ = thought

Chapter 6: A Day Alone With You

Sometimes it was hard to tell if he was awake when things like this happened to him, but he was certain he wasn't exactly asleep either. Hell, for all he knew, he was standing stock still like he'd suddenly gone zombie in the middle of the hall or one of the rooms. But one thing for was for sure, was that this latest vision had hit him hard. Just by looking around at how vivid everything was, Billy was sure he'd have a concussive headache when he woke up. Or snapped out of it, whichever came first. Either way, the next time he was actually conscious was going to suck. Regardless of the consequences to come, Billy knew he had to focus on what he was being shown or he'd likely have it again until his brain could comprehend the information that was being sent to him. The last time he'd tried to ignore a vision, it kept coming back for nearly two weeks. Tommy had insisted that from then on that he either get the vision the first time around or he'd likely hit him. Especially since they'd spent a bit too much a little too often for pain killers when Billy's headaches went from bad to worse. Needless to say Tommy wasn't too pleased that Billy had caused himself his own suffering.

The scenery before him now was like before: the edges of his eyesight warped and blurry while everything directly in front of him was clear as day. Full color and all. Thankfully, much to his relief, it wasn't the crime scene with Teddy clearly dead at the wheel of his car. Especially since now that Teddy was still alive and his car had gone up in flames. This time around the scene was different, but still had an ominous feel to it. Something that instantly made Billy very uneasy about what he was going to be shown. Looking around a little, the hallway he was suddenly now in was very unfamiliar but from the way it was decorated, belonged to someone with plenty of funds. And from the coloring and selection of everything within his range of vision, Billy could easily deduce that the owner of the home was a female. Warm colors and mature design composed the hallway, already telling Billy the homeowner was of a pretty positive set of mind. As he stood there, pondering the reason behind his being there, something ahead made him snap back to attention. Some distance away was a doorway, bright light shining through into the dark of the hall. It wasn't until a shadow passed through it did he get the hint that it was where his attention should be.

Seeing no real reason not to go, Billy wasted no time in calmly walking forward through the dark. So far, nothing about this vision was telling him anything was wrong. But knowing how quiet everything was, he couldn't help but feel that something, anything was bound to pop up and turn it all over. Approaching the doorway too no time at all as his eyes adjusted to the bright light shining from a bulb dangling from a chain over a small table in the middle of the room. With a simple once-over of the room, deducting it was the kitchen took as much time as it would to say the noun. Like he always did in visions like this, Billy's eyes sought out anything that told him about the date or time. To miss it now would mean a repeat he probably didn't want to witness all over again. On the microwave, a fairly recent model, its digital face stated that it was roughly ten thirty at night. Quickly skimming the walls, he found no means of telling the day, until he searched the counters instead. Near the coffee maker was a planner, its neat pages turned to what Billy could easily say was the next day. That instantly told him he had time between whenever he woke up and the actual event to prevent whatever was going to happen. Though to be honest with himself, he wasn't all that bothered that he was in someone else's kitchen, poking his nose through their things. But it was who was in the kitchen that puzzled him.

A young woman, about his age, moved about with ease only brought about by practice and memory. Her golden blonde hair came to her shoulder blades, tied back in a loose tail as the silken curls glistened in the artificial light of the bulb over the table. Her clothes, albeit casual, were obviously high end and well made, their cool colors matching the darkening sky out the window above the sink where she worked. It wasn't until she turned that he knew who it was. He knew those blue eyes and strong face anywhere. There was no doubt in Billy's mind that it was Cassie, all grown up and pretty as ever. Just getting to see her for the first time in years would've sent his heart fluttering to the heavens if not for the look on her face. An expression of true sadness had overtaken her features.

A very male voice from behind made Billy turn as Cassie jumped in surprise. "You okay Cassie? I can always finish for you."

The blonde woman smiled at her suddenly existing companion, her expression still hinting towards her sadness even though she tried to keep her voice in a happy tone. "No, it's okay Nathan. Besides, it helps me get my mind off arranging the funeral."

The new arrival, standing possibly a few inches taller than Cassie with short brown hair and bluish grey eyes, Nathaniel calmly walked in, taking a seat at one of the table's chairs. His slightly sharp features made up his handsome face but there was no denying the warm glow of affection in his light colored skin. Watching Cassie as she moved around the room, Nathaniel went on talking, also seeming unknowing of Billy's presence. "Any word from your cop friend? Ted was it?"

"Teddy. I'm not sure how he'll react to 'Ted' though." Cassie said, still smiling as she sat down across from him, handing him a steaming mug of coffee as she took a sip of her own.

Billy moved to the side so he could watch them both, noting Nathaniel's smile had taken on a strained air. "Right, I'll try to remember that."

Cassie's chuckle of amusement rang through the air, taking Billy, and Nathaniel, off guard before she was speaking again. "Don't worry. Teddy's not the kind to hold grudges all that much. He'll probably just shrug it off."

The man's smile relaxed as it widened, revealing white teeth spread set in an even row that made his face glow even more than before. Just what was this guy? A human fire fly? "Yeah okay. But is there a reason he hasn't called? Surely he's found something by now."

"It's not something you can solve overnight Nathan. Even Teddy knows that. Hell, the last time I spoke to him, which was over the phone, he sounded so tired. I almost didn't recognize him when we met him at the station until he introduced himself." the blonde woman stated before taking another sip of her coffee. Her voice told Billy how guilty she felt for making the man work so hard. She was probably blaming herself for not doing more to get her father out of the house more.

"Brings back memories huh? Are you sure you can trust this guy?" Nathaniel inquired playfully, earning him a kitchen towel to be tossed at his head.

"Oh stop you! Teddy's the king of trust! Even when it seemed impossible he could somehow always seem to keep promises he made. I don't know how he did it but that guy just doesn't know what 'giving up' or 'that's impossible' is." Cassie said with confidence, leaning back in her chair as if she'd won a game. "He even jumped into a pool to grab a drowning kid who was swimming when his parents weren't home."

Even Billy couldn't help but let his eyebrows rise at this new information, Nathaniel stating his own surprise for him. "Wow. Sounds like a super-hero wannabe."

The blonde woman just shook her head, a knowing smirk on her lips. "No not really. Teddy's the kind of guy who does the deed but almost feels guilty for taking the credit. Pull a camera on him and he'll start to fidget."

"Like one from the press?" Nathaniel asked, a little incredulous that such a man was self conscious in front of a camera of all things.

"Worse. We always thought it had something to do with how he felt about himself. But nowadays… I think he probably thinks he doesn't deserve all the attention he gets."

"And yet he became a cop, the one occupation where the eyes of the people are all over you." Nathaniel muttered aloud for all to hear, his face twisting in a confused scowl. "Why become a cop when he's so shy?"

"I think it's because he wanted to understand his father."

The man across from Cassie sat up a little straighter as Billy perked up, both men giving her their full attention. "His father? His dad was a cop?"

"One of the best from what his mom told me. If it's anything, Teddy's got the blood of a cop running through him. Becoming anything else would probably be a crime." A small clutter sounded off from the darkness beyond the room, making Cassie's expression sour into confusion and possibly caution. "Did you hear that?"

Nathaniel's expression soon matched hers as he turned in his chair, setting down his mug as he also stared into the dark of the other room. "Hear what?"

"What was that? A cat?" she asked, Billy moving unnoticed to also walk towards the doorway to skim the black abyss that was the hallway and possibly the living room. So far, he didn't see anything that would warrant such a noise. Not even a small creature such as a cat. And as far as he knew, Cassie didn't have one.

Such information was confirmed by Nathaniel's next statement as he straightened in his chair to look back at Cassie again. "I don't think so. There aren't any cats that I know of that live around here. Want me to check it out?"

Her face still creased with confusion, the blonde woman nodded, fingering her mug nervously now. Her light blue eyes were still focused on the blackness that was her apartment than the man in front of her. "Yeah. Maybe its lost or something."

Wordlessly the brown haired man rose from his seat, his socks softly padding across the hardwood floor as he vanished into the dark of the next room. As the man went to inspect whatever it was, Billy felt a sudden weight come over him, a sudden churning in his stomach instantly making him ill to the core. It was clear sign to him that this vision was about to become unbearably horrible. The urge to follow Nathaniel or to stay with Cassie made him feel torn about his duty to them both. Whatever was going to happen was going to happen soon. Sure enough, a loud clatter sounded off from the next room, making Cassie freeze in her chair and Billy to join her in staring into the darkness of the doorway. There was a crash and the sounds of items being pushed over only to smash onto the floor as padded footsteps attempted to move away from the source of the sudden disruption.

"Oh my god! Cassie ru--!" his warning was cut short by a loud bang, something Billy knew immediately as gunfire. It wasn't long before Cassie was up and running out of the room, Billy not far behind. Once entering what looked like the living room, the carnage was plain to see: Nathaniel was on the floor, eyes wide open and unseeing as a pool of dark liquid began to form under him. His clearly dead eyes were staring right at them, his mouth slightly agape as if frozen mid-speech, which was likely true.

"Nathan?!? NATHANIEL?!??" he vaguely heard Cassie scream as if desperate for an answer from the man on the floor. Billy knew just from looking she would get none. Looking away from the horrible sight of the man's dead body, Billy's lungs seemed to stop working at the sight of the gun coming to point its empty barrel right at them. In the seconds to follow, the attacker's face began to etch itself into Billy's memory: dark brown hair that was cut short but loose in a relaxed fashion that came down the shoulder. From what he could tell, he was in-between being as tall as him and Teddy, his moss green eyes proving to be hardened by years of experience and cold as steel. Most likely from all the death they'd seen. His skin was slightly tan and his nose looked like it'd been perfectly straight at some point, seeming to be a little crooked in comparison to his handsome features.

A low click followed by a blast of thunder, a plume of smoke rising in a flash of light as a small but telltale projectile traveled the space between the gun and Cassie in what seemed like to Billy to be slow motion. The blonde woman didn't even attempt to turn and run as the bullet came flying at her, only throwing up her arms as if hoping it would be enough to shield her from her fate. Her mouth was stretched wide open, her voice coming out in a loud screech of panic. As the bullet met its mark and sent blood all over Billy's face, the force of the shot sending her to the floor. While Cassie's scream of terror echoed into nothing in the wake of the gun's loud retort, Billy soon discovered that Cassie hadn't been the only one screaming.

As proven when his eyes suddenly snapped open to true wakefulness, and Cassie's scream soon became his own as he quickly shot up into a sitting position in a whirl of color and limbs. "AAAAAAAAAAH!"

"Whoa!" a voice suddenly said, large, strong hands grabbing hold of Billy's flailing arms and pulling him close in a rather awkward hug. The voice Billy quickly recognized to be Teddy's as the blonde spoke in soft, gentle tones. "Whoa it's okay! I've got you. I've got you. Just calm down."

"What? Where--?" Billy managed to slur, his mind trying to comprehend the shift in scenery as his hazel brown eyes glanced around only to recognize Teddy's living room.

It didn't take long for the blonde man holding him to concur with his thoughts. "You're in my living room. Remember?"

Billy didn't answer. His mind was still caught between the vision and reality. Sometimes they mixed together, which made it hard to tell them apart. He seemed to heave in the gasps of air that his lungs were demanding of him. Either way he didn't care, just as long as Teddy didn't let him go he was going to be fine. Sweat from his brow and tears from his eyes were already being soaked into Teddy's shirt as the larger blonde held him close, using a free hand to pet his hair. For some reason, Billy just wanted to fall asleep again, exactly where he was. Even if it was in the arms of a man he'd only recently realized he might love. And for now, he had no way of knowing if he loved him back.

Feeling Billy relax against him, the shivers of fear and panic leaving his skinny frame, Teddy dared to speak up again as he used the same gentleness to pull them apart. "That must've been a hell of a dream. Will you be okay? Do you remember what it's about?"

"Y-yeah. I-I remember. I--." Billy stammered, hoping that his blush from their close proximity was well disguised as the remnants of panic. Wiping his face with a hand, he kept his eyes averted from Teddy's searching gaze, his blue eyes making the redness of his face darken a little. "What time is it?"

"A little past eight thirty going on nine in the morning. Why? What's wrong?" Teddy asked, his handsome face twisted slightly by a confused scowl. Understandable since this was the first time he'd seen Billy this way.

Billy's hazel brown eyes met blue at the mention of the time, his expression relaxing in his heartfelt relief. "Oh thank god. There's still time."

Utterly confused by all this, Teddy's scowl deepened with a frown. "Time? Time for what? Billy, is there something you're not telling me here?"

"I-it's nothing, nothing's wrong. Not now." He said quickly, his sleep filled brain urging him to take action now that he had the information he needed. "Just uh… um… oh dammit… paper! I need paper! And something to write with."

"What brought this on?" Teddy asked, still kneeling next to the couch, watching Billy with a confused and concerned stare. "What aren't you telling me?"

"I'll explain later I swear. But I need to get this down before I start to lose it. Please Teddy." The raven haired man pleaded, already kicking himself for letting the blonde catch him having a vision. Now all he could do was wait for the blonde to answer him.

"Alright." Teddy finally said with a nod, eyeing him as he straightened up in order to go to the next room. "Just take a breath. I'll be back in a minute."

"Yeah." Billy didn't argue. From the way Teddy was glancing back at him, it was understandable that he was confused, or possibly suspicious that he was hiding something from him. Not that Billy meant to keep secrets from the blonde. He simply didn't think the man could take in all he could do in one sitting. The blonde cop was in for a big surprise now. After a little over a minute had passed, Teddy returned as promised, with paper and pencil in hand. Muttering his thanks with a small grin, Billy accepted the media and immediately swung his legs over the side of the couch. With no hesitation at all, Billy used the coffee table before him as a backing for his new project, the lines quickly taking the form of a face. The face of the sick and twisted bastard who was Cassie and Nathaniel's killer. Or rather future killer. However you wanted to put it. It was moments like this that Billy was glad he'd taken up art as a hobby.

Once the sketch was done, Billy handed it over to the blonde, who stared at it with awe and confusion in his eyes. "Alright. I'm at a loss. Who is this guy?"

Billy's face stiffened into a rather grim expression as he spoke. "The man who's going to brutally murder Cassie Lang and Nathaniel Richards in cold blood."

"What? How do you--?" Teddy began to say, eyes wide at the sketch while his voice was etched with surprise. Then it seemed to dawn on him. "Is… is this another ability of yours?"

Guiltily, Billy nodded, biting his bottom lip nervously. "It's kinda rare for me to see the killer before he does the deed though."

"Y-you mean you saw the murder?!?" Teddy exclaimed, his jaw practically in his lap as he spoke. Now Billy knew he was throwing curveballs by accident.

He couldn't help but wince at Teddy's surprised tone. "Visions like this are random… and come on their own. I'm sorry but even I still don't know who killed Dr. Lang or why. What I can say is that now they're going for Cassie and her boyfriend."

"When? Last night?" Teddy quickly demanded, his cop instincts kicking in as his face became steeled for the worst. His eyes told Billy he wanted the truth outright or not at all.

But Billy just shook his head, his mind already finding the memory for him. "No, no I saw a clock and I think a calendar…. The murder doesn't happen until a complete fourteen hours from now."

Teddy's demeanor visibly loosened, clearly relieved by this news before confusion set back in again. "So we've got close to fourteen hours to find this guy… or Cassie and Nathaniel are going to die?"

"It's crazy I know but even I can't deny it. Whoever's pulling the strings behind all this wants to get a point across. Who better to take down than the victim's daughter?"

The blonde cop couldn't help but sigh, rubbing the bridge of his nose. None of this was making his job any easier. "This is all well and good but… I can't just up and request a security detail out of the blue like this. It'll make people wonder why I'm suddenly going paranoid. And I'm not about to tell them I've got a specialist of sorts feeding me the info."

Being under the constant stare of Teddy's blue eyes was making Billy fidget, his guilt for keeping this secret from the blonde only now starting to gnaw at him as he tried to stay calm. He could only stare back at the other man with pleading eyes. "I know that this is sudden and yes I understand if you're mad at me for not being as informative about my abilities but… god Teddy we can't just sit around and do nothing! Letting these people do what they want right under our noses is just… just so wrong!"

"I'm not saying we shouldn't do anything. I'm only pointing out that getting help from my superiors is gonna be difficult. Especially since I don't know how to tell them how I got a sketch of a guy who may or may not commit murder a full day from now." Teddy reasoned in a fairly tired voice before he scowled at Billy's pained wince. "Are you okay?"

A light blush spread across his cheeks, turning his face a light pink as Billy tried to keep his voice from cracking while he used a hand to cover his eyes from view. Looking the blonde in the eyes was starting to get difficult. "Y-yeah. I get headaches sometimes whenever I have dreams like that. It should go away after a while."

Instant concern came over Teddy, pulling the man's hand away from his face as blue eyes looked into hazel brown with worry. "Do you want some pain medication? Or does that not work on something like this?"

His blush forgotten, Billy's expression nearly went blank with surprise. "N-no you don't have to do that. I'll be fine, really."

"Just to be sure." Teddy said sternly, rising to his feet again, glancing at him one last time before quickly walking away. "Stay put."

"But--!"

Only Teddy wasn't listening as he was quickly nowhere in sight, leaving Billy in a hazy fog that made him want to go back to sleep again. The headache from this vision was mercifully light for once, something Billy was thankful for. He was pretty sure that it'd be gone in close to an hour from now. The fact that Teddy wasn't about to take any chances was endearing as well as a little puzzling to him. Just knowing the blonde wouldn't take no for an answer concerning the wellbeing of others told him that Cassie had meant what she'd said. Teddy had been destined to be a cop from the start. Regardless of whether he was following in his father's footsteps or not, Teddy probably would've ended up in law enforcement in one way or another. He winced as another wave of dull pain hit him head on. The fact that this vision was being so persistent meant that it was extremely important, and was one that he hoped Teddy knew better than to ignore. As if on cue, the blonde was coming back into the room, this time with a glass of water and what looked like small white pills in hand.

Holding out his hands to proffer the items in question, Billy had to fight extremely hard to keep his face in a slight expression of surprise to avoid blushing his own skin off. The look Teddy was giving him was that of true gentleness and kindness. Two things Billy was sure that he'd never see at the same time. If the blonde noticed his controlled reaction, he didn't show it as he spoke in a cool voice. "Take these. They should dull the pain a bit. Are you up to eating anything?"

"Maybe, in a bit. Thanks." Billy said, smiling nervously at the blonde as he took the glass and pills from him. He wasted no time in consuming the pills before downing some of the water to get rid of the bitterness the pills brought. Once he'd gotten his fill, he handed back the glass in shy silence.

The blonde simply smiled as he took the glass back, watching with mild curiosity as Billy looked away as he let his hands rest in his lap, his fingers coming to thread themselves between each other. The cop knew anxiety when he saw it. "No problem. I'm going to get my own breakfast. Let me know when you want some too okay?"

"Y-yeah." He managed to say as the blonde was once again gone from the room in seconds, leaving him in silence and in thought. The guilt of not telling the man of his ability earlier hung over Billy like a dark cloud, but he'd met too many skeptics in the past to think of just blurting it out. He'd hoped a bit more time would pass before Teddy caught him having a dream or a vision, but he knew it'd only be a matter of time. A brief flash of the carnage he'd just seen confirmed that not only would he not be eating for a while, but that they were on the clock. A clock that was slowly counting down to zero hour, and the brutal deaths of two innocent people. Sickened by seeing Cassie's lifeless face all over again, Billy nearly threw up but managed to hold it back. The last thing he wanted to do was make Teddy worry about him any more than he already had. Fairly certain now that he wouldn't be able to do much for a while, Billy resolved himself to falling back asleep, hopefully this time without any dreams to chase him back into consciousness.

Tommy felt like shit. Hell he probably looked like shit too. Especially now that his shirt was torn around the stomach and his legs felt like dead weights in comparison to his arms. The intruder from last night had given him a hell of a time. He'd been forced to untie their only suspect and everything just to get out of that place in one piece. More than likely it was unsafe to go back there now. He would've headed home but the last thing he wanted was for his captive to know where he lived. And he sure as hell didn't know where Teddy lived. So with the use of his resourcefulness and suave skills, Tommy was able to find a good motel for them to hide in, easily able to fool the desk clerk with not his charm, but cash and a fake name. A feat he'd easily come to master in his early years of petty thievery. His captive now turned travel buddy, who he now knew to be Cory, had proven to be fairly adept at knowing what to buy when they finally discovered how hungry they were. Upon leaving to complete this task, Tommy warned him that if he didn't return within an hour or so, he'd have to deal with a fate worse than what he'd been dealt only a few hours before. The thought of what the man could do made Cory look sick to his stomach, but he only nodded before leaving. As promised, he was back within the time limit, with a good half hour to spare.

Having now been convinced of the man's innocence, the white blonde did nothing in ensuring the man couldn't leave or try to betray him. He was too tired to think about such things now, and didn't think to pick up the phone to call his brother or the cop. With his stomach full of food and his brain tired from thinking, his limbs followed him in expressing their fatigue over all the activity they'd suffered. Cory, who'd obediently seated himself on the other bed, eyed Tommy with watery eyes. Not only was one of his friends dead, but it was likely that another had just tried to kill them. If not for Tommy, he wouldn't be alive right now.

"You okay?" he asked timidly, his voice barely anything above a whisper. From the bed next to his, lying flat on his back with his eyes closed, Tommy simply scowled.

"Do me a favor?" he growled, not opening his eyes or making any efforts towards moving. The thought of doing just that made him want to shoot himself. But for now, he felt more like just staying still instead. "Shut the hell up."

If only the guilt of being constantly the weaker link in the chain, Cory could only rationalize his new role in things by being a helper more than anything. "Should I go to the drug store or something? I know you beat me pretty bad but you almost got shot."

Still unmoving, Tommy's expression eased in its intensity, his voice coming in an almost sarcastic tone for once. "Not the first time. He had bad aim anyway."

"Are you sure you don't need somethin'? I could just--."

Tommy's voice, still filled with aggravation and possibly anger, sent Cory back into silence. "What I do need… is for you to just shut the fuck up."

"Sorry." The man said piteously, almost cowering even though the other man's eyes were closed. "I can't help it."

"Watch the TV or something. Just… do something… other than talk to me." The white blonde growled from the other side of the room, slowly managing to roll over so that his back was facing the room's only other occupant. "Good night."

But questions were still itching to leave Cory's mouth, while dozens more buzzed around his brain like frustrated bees. It wasn't everyday a guy you've never met beats you up then saves you from certain death. "Why did you save me? You could've just left me there to get shot."

Lifting his head up in a lazy attempt to turn and face the blood covered man, Tommy's voice was filled with hints of annoyance and finality. "I've seen enough death this week to last me the next six months. I don't need another three months of being disgusted with myself just 'cause I wasn't willing to untie a guy who couldn't get away fast enough. Satisfied?"

This made sense to Cory so he didn't say anything, though another question forced itself to be asked. "But weren't you supposed to interrogate me for your cop friend?"

"Yeah, I was. Now we're hangin' out like old buddies. Whoop de dang do. Now shut the fuck up already." Tommy snarled, his head coming back down to rest on the bed's pillow. The silence between them made it easy for Cory to hear the tired sigh he made.

"Sorry." He said softly, looking down at himself to see that he was still covered in some of his own blood. The injuries Tommy had given him weren't serious, but they still hurt. This prompted yet another question that came forward with all the instinctive curiosity of a normal human being. "Shouldn't we call somebody?"

"No Cory, we don't and we won't. At least give me an hour or so okay? Damn." Tommy grumbled, his voice now sounding tired and heavy. "And if you say you're sorry one more time I'm gonna break your nose."

Cory quickly clamped his mouth shut. He'd already discovered how seriously Tommy took his promises. Pushing his luck now would be a foolish move. It was bad enough the man was in a bad mood after being shot at. Discovering just how angry he could get by prodding him further didn't seem like the best way to start the new day. So, for lack of better options at his disposal, Cory resolved himself to once again sitting quietly on his own bed, staring blankly at the TV while Tommy fell asleep. Like a few hours earlier, Cory once again found himself to be the lookout.

--_**Meanwhile, At The Precinct**_—

Greg Norris was angry. More than angry, outright and understandably furious. His partner had suddenly decided to go absolutely AWOL on him, and all the while not telling him a thing. The blonde man had been out of contact with him for nearly two days and it was really starting to test his patience. Seated at his desk like always, he ran a hand through his dark brown hair as he stared at the empty seat across from his. Right where Teddy should be. He understood that the man had been working himself practically to death over the case and even after the 48-hour deadline. Despite this, Teddy had just refused to let it slide. He actually swore that he wouldn't let the case go cold. That in mind, he'd been working the phones and other aspects of his occupation in search of answers. So much so Greg was nearly sure he'd have to haul the man's unconscious form to the empty cot in the break room sooner or later. He'd found the other man to be a fairly friendly and open person, but this was ridiculous. The thought of calling him up and demanding to know where he was still made his fingers itch to pick up the receiver and start dialing the man's number. That is, until his captain came round and told him he'd given the blonde the day off.

But the urge to call up the man and yell into his ear was becoming almost too much to ignore, even for him. Hell for all he knew the blonde was still out cold. And so far, he'd yet to see the man get angry at anyone, or anything. If he ever did, Greg was sure that it wouldn't be pretty. He'd tested his luck a few times over the years, but had come dangerously close to possibly unleashing a rather dangerous beast on himself. Even though he was warned off by rather dark and pointed stares, Greg knew that somewhere, deep down that those looks were just the tip of a seriously merciless iceberg. Caution and instinct now pulling him away from calling his partner, he thought now to call up someone else instead. Someone he hoped would be able to help him get his partner moving so, at some point, they could move on to another case. Giving the empty chair and desk across from his one last glance, Greg finally picked up the receiver to his desk phone, and started dialing.

Jessica Jones was now finding her physical state of self to be both a curse and a blessing, a curse when it came to her job but a blessing when it came to getting people to do what she wanted when she couldn't do it herself. Though the blessing part came to be a little annoying when people offered to do one too many parts of her job for her. She was pregnant, not crippled. The efforts of her coworkers were sweet and in the right mindset but dammit she wanted to work, not be treated like the useless woman incapable of doing anything. But she still smiled her kind and toothy smile, nodding or shaking her head at questions, comments or requests. Hell, her coworkers had even gone as far as filling her corner of the bullpen with cards, balloons, even switching out her chair one that was more modern than all the others on the floor. For all she knew, they were heading to all the good parts of the building just to get the less outdated snacks for her when her cravings hit. Though she only ate them unless her friend and coworker Kat Farrell approved that they were either extremely healthy, or within the limits of the expiration date plainly labeled on the side. Hell the spectacled woman went as far as taste testing them for her to ensure they were to her friend's liking. Jessica couldn't help but suspect that her best friend wasn't the only one who was itching to be fed. A fact that she was willing to assist her long time friend and adamant coworker cope with.

"So, anything new on the Lang case? I hear the boss is givin' you some extra time to work on it." She heard her friend Kat state from her side of their fogged glass divide, her voice once again donning the 'tell-all' tone.

Despite the fact the four-eyed woman couldn't see her, Jessica couldn't help but shrug it off as she skimmed through papers in front of her. "It's not as great as I thought but it's coming along. You should've seen Teddy's face when he found me in the Lang residence."

In an instant, Kat was up and leaning her head over the side of the divider, her hands going white on the glass as if she were holding it for dear life. Kat had the classic librarian look, black and square frames, grass green eyes and reddish brown hair that curled slightly. Its length was enough to shield the back of her neck from sunburn, even as her face nearly turned purple with frustration. "You went to the dead man's house? Are you crazy?!? I would've gone for you!!"

"I know, I know but I just wanted to see for myself what I could find. You know I've got a better nose than you do." Jessica reasoned, glancing around as several coworkers slowly began to fall back into routine. For Kat to show such a reaction was rare but not unheard of.

Kat simply scowled, almost as if she were pouting before she straightened, eyeing her friend with annoyance. "And a cute one at that. Hopefully what you're gonna give that little boy or girl still floating inside you. When is he going to pop the question anyway?"

Like many times before, Jessica could only roll her eyes at the inquiry. Nowadays she was beginning to think the same thing. "Oh you know men. They like to take their time with things. I don't think either of us wants to rush into this. A baby's a big responsibility."

Kat's scowl only seemed to darken, making a passerby walk a little faster. "Oh that I don't doubt. But if he doesn't ask you to marry him, I'll make sure he does."

"Kat that's not--."

"Don't you dare say 'that's not necessary' to me! You both have good paying jobs, you're both smart and successful and he's taking his sweet ol' time all because you two got a little too excited one night? Oh please!" the woman snarled angrily as she whipped around to sit back down at her own chair, leaving her friend staring at the space she'd been standing in not seconds before.

Jessica could only sigh in defeat. Her friend had a point. That she couldn't argue no matter how she chose to attack it. But what she could take a shot at was that neither were all that eager to jump into the same boat unless both oars were going to be used. One for each passenger aboard while the up and coming third was likely to steer them down the river everyone just loved to call 'life'. She couldn't help but chuckle as her friend continued her annoyed rant under her breath, her annoyance mirrored in her angry typing from the other side of the divider. Jessica knew she'd be like that for the next hour or so before she forgot about it completely only for something else to replace her frustration. For now, Jessica was content to ponder her future as she continued to type up her story for the next day. This train of thought, of course, gave birth to another series of thought.

_Just who was Teddy talking to in the Lang apartment the other day?_ She suddenly thought to herself, biting her lip as she did. It was rare for the blonde man to consult with anyone other than fellow police officers and investigators when working a case. But now she couldn't say for sure who the detective had been talking to as she hid in one of the rooms upstairs. She'd honestly not known it was him at first until he actually came looking for her. And when he'd escorted her to the door, the owners of the two other voices had somehow vanished. The fact that the blonde cop might actually be receiving help was something she was itching to know more about. For now, all she could do was sit at her desk like a good little girl, occasionally feeling the energetic kicks of her unborn child.

Elijah Bradley wasn't in the best of moods. He hardly ever was, as most who knew him well would say. His dark complexion and bald head usually gave people the wrong impression of him, an impression he did all he could to beat or counter to ensure no one got it wrong a second time around. Early morning traffic was mercilessly hard to maneuver through despite the lacking number of cars that were usually on the road at such an hour of day. All he could do was tap on his steering wheel and glare at the cars ahead of him with dark brown eyes. He wanted desperately to turn on his dashboard siren and lights just to get other people to get out of his way so he could get to his destination faster. But he knew better than that. His captain would have his badge while his girlfriend would likely have his neck. And he'd yet to see her get that angry. By now, he certainly didn't want to. Of all things, what he hated more than to be scolded off by either his captain or his girlfriend was to get a call from Greg Norris. Of all the other detectives he'd ever worked with, he was the guy he hated the most. Not the 'you're white and I'm black' kind of hate. The kind of hate that made him want to beat the man senseless, all just from either a glance or a gesture. There was something off about Greg, but he still didn't know what. He was sure that Teddy was feeling the heat about it, despite being too kindhearted to do much about it. Yeah sure he understood that the blonde cop didn't want to become the grumpy, disgruntled cop that gained weight and waited for retirement. He was the kind of guy who actually cared what happened to people. Eli was sure that the man mourned all the people he found dead and comforted the survivors.

He scowled at the traffic ahead of him through his sunglasses, a frown on his lips as he thought about the blonde man. That's just how Teddy was. Kind and too fuckin' naïve. Or so he though until he saw the man shoot a suspect as he turned on him with a knife in hand. The look in the blonde's eyes had disturbed him a little but it certainly hardened him a bit. When he'd heard that Teddy had taken on the Lang murder case, and that he knew the man as well as his daughter, Eli was sure that the blonde would be shaken to the core. Having met up with him the week before, he found that such an assumption was true. The man looked so tired, but his eyes hadn't lost any of their fighting spirit. For Greg to call him up just before he clocked in either meant that he was annoyed with the man, Teddy was sleeping or doing something else, or something was seriously wrong and nobody knew yet. Finally getting to push down on the gas pedal and taking the next turn, Eli could only hope that it was the second choice knowing for sure that the blonde hadn't slept properly for a while. All he had to do now was confirm, or possibly deny, his suspicions before Norris got too angry. Something he knew for sure, with the utmost certainty, wouldn't change for the better.

--_**With Teddy**_—

The morning was turning into a strange one. He'd awoken in his bed, sure as can be, that Billy had been there the night before, trapped in his grip. A vision he hoped was a dream mostly out of embarrassment. Teddy knew himself to be a rather light sleeper most of the time. His only hope about now was that whatever he saw, or experienced, had been a pre-sleep hallucination or an even better dream before being pushed aside for something else. But even Teddy knew that it was a bit too vivid to be a dream. He'd wanted to ask Billy about it when he got up, hoping that either the other man would confirm his suspicions or just react in confusion. But he didn't get the chance due to the fact that once he came into the living room to check on his guest, the man was practically twitching in his sleep, his brow soaked with sweat and his hands sparking with blue lightning. At first Teddy had actually been afraid to approach the man but quickly overcame it from the way Billy's face had twisted into a pained expression. No sooner did he come closer to kneel next to the couch did the man's brown eyes snap open, a scream of horror, panic and fear coming forth not far behind.

Now armed with the knowledge that his guest was not only a sorcerer but a psychic as well, Teddy now had to wrap his head around the future being told from a single dream. The thought of such a thing was a little difficult to grasp, but Billy had proven to be honest so far. Doubting him and his word was alien to him now. Looking back into the living room, he let out a small sigh of relief at the sight of Billy lying back down and obviously having fallen back asleep thanks to the meds he'd been given. He could only hope that no horrible dreams disturbed him again. Staring down at his still swirling mug of coffee, the newspaper lying forgotten only a few inches away, the blonde cop couldn't help but wonder about Billy's dream. The raven haired man didn't have the demeanor of a liar, and the pure fear and panic on his face upon waking had appeared real enough. It wasn't until he looked slightly to his left that he realized that he'd brought Billy's sketch to the table with him. The man's face upon it looked grim and serious, his pencil grey eyes appearing cold and calculating. A purebred, bona-fide killer. A man whose only mission was death, and avoiding the authorities when he was finished, disappearing mere minutes later into the depths of crime's shadowy folds. Just glancing at his eyes made Teddy want to shiver as he quickly flipped it over to see the calm blank side staring up at him, a simple relief for now.

Finally taking a sip of his freshly made coffee, Teddy came to a decision. As soon as he was ready for the day, he would call Tommy. Hopefully the white haired man would be willing to give him answers on what'd just transpired in his living room. Just the memory of being so close to Billy like that had left sweat all over his palms. Something that'd never truly happened to him before now that he thought about it. Was it from fear and concern that Billy might've been sick or hurt? Or was it from instinctual urge to take control, show the man in the next room who he was and who he could be if given the chance? Blushing deeply, Teddy quickly shook the thoughts from his head. Thinking like that now was inappropriate. He would deal with these confusing feelings later. For now, he had a future murderer to catch before time ran out. Just as he was about to take another sip of coffee, a sudden knock at his front door caught his attention and bringing him out of this thoughts.

Curious who would be coming at such an early hour he didn't hesitate to put his mug down as he got to his feet. As bare skin went from tile to hard wood flooring, Teddy shuffled calmly to his front door, his eyes already switching gears to show him there certainly was someone on the other side, their heat like a beacon beyond the wooden barrier. The small crack separated the door from the floor wafted in the person's scent, the familiar musky tang of his long time friend Elijah Bradley hitting his nose. For a second, he almost stopped in midstride, his brain trying to come with reasons for why the dark skinned man would be coming to see him. Then again, a lot of this Eli did sometimes escaped explanation. The man was a mystery upon a mystery if there ever was one. Deciding not to test just how patient the man could be, Teddy wasted no time in opening his door with a kind smile on his face.

"Hey Eli. Need something?" he asked innocently, the smile pasted to his face making the dark skinned man scowl in annoyance.

"Yeah. One: don't fuckin' do that, since it's so damn creepy."

Teddy just shrugged this off, knowing exactly what Eli meant. Other than Billy, Eli was one of the few he trusted with the knowledge of what he could do. Not that Eli was any different. "And two?"

Eli's annoyed scowl deepened to take on a darker edge. "Actually call your partner so that he doesn't call me instead."

"That mad huh?" Teddy said calmly, though fear was creeping up on him as he watched Eli's angry face only get more angry, his eyes asking a silent question. Knowing better than to make him any more enraged than he already was, the blonde smoothly moved out of the man's way. "Sure thing, c'mon in."

"You've got to be careful around Greg. I've told you that before and I'm tellin' you now: that guy has some serious issues." Eli growled as he stepped inside, Teddy shutting the door behind him as they stood in the main hallway.

Turning to face Eli, Teddy's kind smile was gone, having been replaced by a look of stern certainty. "I can handle it Eli. He's just pissed because I won't let this case go. He's not interested in the death of a professor. He's just interested in doing damage to others for the hell of it."

Eli could only sigh, removing his shades to reveal tired brown eyes. "Yet you're still his partner. You should at least ask for someone else. I know I would."

The blonde just waved the sentence off, guiding them both into the kitchen, careful to stay well away from where Billy slept on his couch. "You've told me that before too. Coffee?"

"Not right now." The man growled, an eyebrow quirking in curiosity as he picked up the piece of paper, revealing Billy's sketch from its spot on the table. "What's this?"

Teddy tried not to stiffen at the sight of it but managed to hide his unease. "That? It's just a sketch of a possible suspect. It kinda creeped me out so I turned it over."

Eli said nothing at first, staring at the sketch with slight appreciation of its style and skill of creation. "This is pretty neat. I didn't know our guys were this talented."

"I didn't get it from work." Teddy admitted, trying to keep his voice as calm as possible. He watched the dark skinned man carefully from where he stood near the counter, silently praying he wouldn't get suspicious.

"Then where did you--?" Eli nearly spun all the way around, the sketch forgotten as he eyed Teddy with a suspicious gaze. As if suddenly realizing something, Eli slapped the paper down on the table and stomped out of the room. "Wait…"

Instantly worried, Teddy wasn't very far behind. "Eli? What's wrong?"

Sure enough, Eli came to a stop in front of his couch, staring down at Billy's sleeping form. Within seconds he was scowling halfway between rage and disbelief. When he spoke, it was in a rather harsh whisper. "I knew it! How long has he been here?!?"

Kicking himself now for knowing that is near impossible to keep a secret around Eli, Teddy tried to hide his newfound anxiety. "Since last night. Why? Eli, tell me what's wrong."

"He had a vision didn't he?" the man demanded, his scowl taking a rather darker shade. Proof that Eli was being perfectly serious in his questioning the blonde.

Seriously confused now, Teddy just shook his head as he whispered back. "Okay, I'm not even going to comment on just how you know that since it'll only confuse me further. How do you know Billy exactly?"

"I met him two years ago while I was out on a case. It's kinda a long story." Eli muttered grudgingly, looking sheepish for once.

The blonde simply stared, his own face taking on a more serious edge. "I'm listening."

But Eli was still eyeing Billy cautiously, a flicker of concern in his eyes. "Will he be okay?"

"I gave him some pain meds a little earlier. He fell asleep soon after. I guess you just missed him now that I think about it." Teddy said, beckoning for the other man to follow him back into the kitchen again.

"Figures. I always did have bad timing." Eli grumbled, almost as if wounded somehow.

Teddy just chuckled as they once again came to stand in his kitchen, heading straight for his coffee maker. His characteristic kind and knowing smile was back on his face. "And I'm guessing you'll take that coffee now."

"Please tell me you're not telepathic too." The other man stated, his face clouded enough for Teddy to be unable to tell if he was being sarcastic or not.

Instead he just chuckled at the statement. "No, just good intuition. Sugar? Cream?"

"No, just straight." Eli said as he sat down, eyeing the sketch once again as he set his glasses down on the tabletop. "So I'm guessing you want an explanation."

Soon the blonde was there, seating himself across the table, handing the other man the full mug of coffee he'd promised. If Eli was surprised to see the deadly serious look on the man's face, he didn't show it. "That would be nice."

"We met on the streets, I was patrolling and he was… well, trying to avoid trouble. But you could say that on that night, trouble found him instead. I managed to show up before he got the brains kicked out of him by a bunch of down and dirty thugs who thought he was just another helpless civilian. And that's what I thought too." Eli said before taking a sip of coffee. His expression was that of grim amusement. Teddy just chuckled at him.

"What made you change your mind?"

"The fact he was able to push them all back, all without even touchin' 'em." The dark skinned man nearly declared, making Teddy raise his eyebrows. "Yeah I was surprised too. I had to practically tackle him to keep him from running away. He was so freaked I thought he was going to faint on me."

"Did he? Faint I mean." Teddy asked, concerned that the raven haired man had indeed passed out from the effort of taking down foes much bigger than him.

Eli simply shrugged off the question before taking another sip of coffee. "Almost, but I was able to get him to sit on the curb until backup arrived. You two practically passed each other by that night."

This caught Teddy off guard. Had he really missed Billy that night? Thinking back to the night in question, he didn't understand how he could have. "What? We did?"

Eli nodded calmly, his face back to its serious expression again. "He insisted on hiding out in my car. I was really surprised at how well he practically camouflaged with my floor. I'd almost forgotten about him when I finally drove away from the scene. The most he asked for was an energy bar and a bottle of water. I even asked if he wanted anything else but he refused. He looked weak to me at first but I found out pretty fast just how tough he really was."

"Yeah I found that out too. But I think what he's been through recently might take some more time to get over."

"Don't I know it. Is it true he and his brother met Cassie in college?"

It was Teddy's turn to nod at the question, taking a swig of his own beverage before answering him. "That's right. Even I was surprised to hear about that. I don't remember her mentioning either of them to me before."

"Well if you've gotten to know Billy like I think you have, you'll have found he's a pretty secretive guy." Eli growled at him, making Teddy want to roll his eyes but resisted. The man was being a little too serious. "He wouldn't even tell me where they lived after we left that scene. I thought he was still shaken until I actually looked over and saw this odd look on his face."

Confused, Teddy scowled at him in question. "What look?"

"Like… he wanted to trust me but couldn't get himself to say what he wanted. I could tell he was pretty torn about telling me anything about himself."

"That's a little hard to believe." The blonde muttered sarcastically. His mind instantly pointed his thoughts to Tommy, half crazy and completely paranoid. For Billy to be around such a personality must've certainly forced the man to gain a heightened sense of caution. He didn't mind that Billy had secrets. But the fact he was being a little too secretive was worrying.

"Not funny Altman." Eli snarled, bringing him out of his thoughts. "Anyway, it took a few days before he finally opened up. Then, in the middle of our conversation, he just falls silent. Literally in midsentence and everything. His eyes just start to lose focus and I could almost swear they were glowing. I didn't know what to think at first but after a while I couldn't help but feel useless. A few minutes later he comes out of it and just drops."

"Was he okay?" Teddy inquired quickly, his face mirroring his voice as he stared at Eli with great alarm. The thought of Billy having visions while he was awake was a scary thing since they were likely the closest thing the man had to seizures.

"Yeah he was but he acted like he'd just come back from being somewhere else. I almost couldn't make sense of some of the things he was saying. At first I thought he'd lost it but then he asked for paper." Eli said matter-of-factly, taking another sip of coffee. Teddy thought he'd almost imagined the nervous shiver.

Teddy could only stare, feeling like he was in a déjà vu moment. "Seriously? He did that too. Is it some kind of pattern of his?"

Eli simply grunted. The look on the man's face was thoughtful as he tried to remember the moment from so long ago. "Mostly. Only when he's seen the 'whodunit' part of the picture with the highest clarity there is. The rest he just babbled like he'd just had half a gallon of coffee. I didn't really believe him either but it wasn't until I actually went to the where and when that I found out how stupid I was to think he'd be faking."

"The bank shootout that went down in June two years ago? I remember that. Even the captain was curious how you came out to be the first responder." The blonde stated, calmly waiting for the other man to answer as he watched him take a large swig of his beverage.

"Hell that's not the half of it. The guy who did it? He was the guy I remember watching Billy draw right in front of me. Plain as day and even dressed like Billy said he would be. Talk about creepy."

Teddy quirked an eyebrow at this statement, wondering now if the sketch Billy had given him would be just as accurate. "And afterwards?"

Eli simply shrugged in a truly nonchalant fashion. Almost as if he didn't really care at all. Like he did with most things, as far as Teddy knew. "Billy just seemed to drop on and off the map. Come to think of it, this is the first I've seen of him in eight months."

"That long? Not even calls or emails?" Teddy inquired, scowling in concern. Had something happened to Billy in the months since he'd met Eli?

The dark skinned man just shook his head, slightly glowering at the memory. "Nothing. Almost like he just ceased to exist. His brother was even less forthcoming when it came to where they go, much less do when no one they know sees them. I'm sure they're capable of being gone for over a year if they tried."

"It's possible that they just moved and never left town." The blonde muttered, truly pondering if the apartment he'd tracked them down to had been their new place or not. But it looked too well lived in for it not to be Tommy's place. Considering how everything was most certainly not in an organized manner.

If Eli saw his thoughtful look he didn't say so, continuing as if the blonde hadn't gone off into his own world. "I thought of that but I didn't exactly have time to find out. What with people trying to murder and maim each other all the damn time."

"There's always that. Does the captain know about Billy or Tommy?" Teddy had to ask since both twins had already advised against telling others about their connection to him. Now he could see why.

"No, they insisted that they remain an 'anonymous source' all the time they were helping me with cases. I highly doubt they won't do the same with you."

Teddy just chuckled, taking a sip of his own coffee again before speaking. "They already have. Right after Tommy hit me with a crowbar."

Eli blinked, wincing at the thought of such an event. "He hit you? Ouch."

"I'm fine. Just stung my pride a little." Teddy said with a shrug, a sly smile coming onto his lips as he stared Eli right in the eye. "What about you?"

Taking the hint, Eli almost looked as if he was pouting as he spoke grudgingly. "Tried to bash my head in with a brick. Smashed it to pieces on my thick skull. Kate had a fit when is showed up at her place a few hours later. I don't think she's forgiven him for that either."

"This I don't doubt." The blonde said laughing. The thought of Kate having a hissy fit was always funny. But if she was mad at Tommy? This he had to see. "That reminds me. I should call Tommy about his brother."

"Yeah you probably should. Once he learns you waited until now to call him, he won't be too happy." Eli warned, watching Teddy pull out his cell phone. His years as a cop had trained him to keep it close, even if it was his day off.

"I've never known you to be wrong." The blonde chuckled as he dialed the twin's number from memory and waited patiently for him to pick up. Eli simply watched on as he perked up at the sound of the connection coming through. "Tommy?"

Eli sat patiently on his side of the table, almost as if wondering if he wanted a refill or not at the blonde remained silent for a moment. That is, until Teddy suddenly exclaimed. "WHAT?!? When? Where are you?"

A little confused but patient still, Eli waited. Whatever was being said was important. He knew that better than anyone. Plus the look on the blonde's face was worrying. If the one-sided conversation was going as he thought it was, he was prepared to forgo another cup of coffee.

"No. No don't do anything." He said sternly, almost commandingly to the man on the other end before he paused to listen again. "It's fine. I know someone. He'll be there as soon as he can." When Teddy finally hung up, the look on his face was disturbingly serious. Blue eyes met brown, Eli silently rising from his seat.

"What's happened?" he asked very simply. He knew the blonde wanted to go but was torn between seeing Tommy and making sure Billy was okay. Having him go was the only real choice they had at the moment.

Putting his cell phone away, Teddy's face stayed stuck in its serious expression. "Tommy and our 'suspect' turned informant were attacked last night. They're hiding out in a hotel a good distance away from the apartment complex. He should be expecting you soon."

"Address?"

The blonde didn't hesitate to convey the information, earning him a simple nod of acknowledgement as the dark skinned man pushed in his chair and made his way for the door. Leaving Teddy to his thoughts as his sky blue eyes once again came to rest on Billy's sketch, the eyes drawn upon the paper staring up with unending hostility and apathy. He couldn't help but sneer at it with a newfound disgust as he turned the damned thing over, taking a large swig of his coffee in pure frustration. It was a wonder he didn't choke on it as it went down his throat. There was no way he could sleep now. Once Eli came back with Tommy and Cory, they had some planning to do.

Ugh. That's all I can do for now without hurting myself. I hope you guys understand that I just gotta cut it off here. The last thing I need is to make it 25 pages long or something. Don't wanna do that. Too much work. Anyhow, I'm glad you guys are hangin' in there. It makes me feel really appreciated for all effort I put into these things. I've heard from some of you, saying you'd love to me more but I can only work on these at once. That and I've got a pretty short attention span… mostly. Now that I'm done ranting, off to work again! Here's what's to come:

Next chapter:

Chapter 7: The Game Plan

Looks like things are finally heating up. Could this mean that Teddy and Billy are finally going to realize they like each other more than they think? Or is this a romance doomed for disaster? And just what is Greg's problem? Talk about anger issues. Wanna find out? Come on back for my next installment of '_Connected_' with

_**Chapter 7: The Game Plan!!**_


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